The U-Freight Group (UFL), the global freight forwarding and logistics and company, is observing interesting trends emerging from recent changes to U.S. trade policy, particularly the removal of the de minimis threshold for duty-free imports.
As the policy shift prompts e-commerce businesses to reassess their logistics strategies, UFL reports a notable shift in how some direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are approaching order fulfilment.
Instead of shipping individual orders directly to U.S. consumers from overseas, several of its clients are pivoting to bulk shipping models — moving inventory in larger volumes into the U.S. for domestic storage and fulfilment.
Rick Keller, CEO of U-Freight America said: “This change is driving a reassessment of supply chain models. Many shippers are now identifying which of their SKUs previously benefited from the de minimis exemption.
“They are running detailed cost simulations that factor in duties, tariffs, and various fulfilment strategies to find the most economical way forward.”
The emerging strategy of shipping in bulk for local fulfilment offers several upsides. Businesses can now pay duties based on wholesale costs, which are typically lower than the retail value of individual DTC shipments.
This allows them to:
- Avoid surprising customers with unexpected import fees,
- Reduce per-unit shipping and logistics costs,
- Improve delivery speeds by utilising U.S.-based fulfilment centres,
- Maintain price competitiveness in the U.S. market, even without the benefit of duty-free thresholds.
UFL, with its network of distribution centres and significant experience in cross-border e-commerce logistics, is well-positioned to support businesses making this transition.
Keller added: “We see this as a growth opportunity for our U.S. fulfilment operations. Some of our clients are already exploring or implementing distributed warehousing strategies to offset the impact of de minimis removal.
“U-Freight is committed to helping companies adapt with flexible, scalable logistics solutions that optimise cost and delivery performance.”