How to Send Paintings to the USA Now: New Customs Rules 2026

The US tariff changes have rewritten the logic of shipping paintings to America. Since 29 August 2025 every parcel, whatever its value, must be formally declared, and the recipient pays duty on delivery. Gifts, personal effects and commercial shipments valued up to 800 dollars once crossed the border free of charge; that threshold is now gone for good.

For an artist in Ukraine this is not an abstract Bloomberg headline but a direct hit to the cost of a sale. A client in Brooklyn who ordered a 250-dollar watercolour now receives a DHL invoice with duty and a brokerage fee, and calls asking why. Here is what actually changed, who pays what, and how to prepare a shipment so that it does not sit in New York for three weeks.

Documenting an international parcel: an example of a CN23 customs declaration.

What was introduced, and when it took effect

The chronology in brief. On 2 April 2025 the President signed Executive Order 14257, the reciprocal tariffs order the White House called "Liberation Day". A universal 10% baseline rate on imports from all countries took effect on 5 April. Higher country-specific rates followed on 9 April for dozens of economies: the European Union at 20%, China at 54%, Vietnam at 46%, Thailand at 36%. Ukraine remained in the 10% baseline category.

On 30 July 2025 came Executive Order 14324, ending the de minimis exemption. Until then, parcels to the US worth up to 800 dollars entered duty-free under a simplified procedure; from 29 August 2025 the exemption ceased to apply to every country without exception. On 5 September that year, Executive Order 14346 confirmed a revised Annex II and set out procedures for framework agreements, including with EU member states that agreed to move towards zero rates on a range of goods in exchange for reciprocal commitments.

The US reciprocal tariff table published by the administration on 2 April 2025.

By summer 2026 the structure had been rebuilt several times. On 20 February 2026 the Supreme Court, by 6 votes to 3 in Learning Resources v. Trump and V.O.S. Selections, held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorise the President to impose tariffs; CBP stopped collecting IEEPA duties on 24 February. The same day the administration reissued the 10% baseline under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 for 150 days, the maximum the statute allows. On 24 July 2026 Section 122 expired by operation of law, and USTR launched a new wave under Section 301 that same day: rates of 10% or 12.5% for 60 economies, including Canada, Mexico, the EU member states, the United Kingdom, India and China. This time the legal basis was a forced-labour investigation rather than reciprocity. Ukraine does not appear in the Section 301 lists, so confirm the applicable rate with your carrier's broker on the day you ship.

What about the "100-dollar threshold"

There is persistent confusion here worth clearing up. The 800-dollar de minimis threshold was abolished outright, and nothing in EO 14324 shifts it to 100 dollars. What people call the "100-dollar threshold" was in fact a different mechanism: for international postal items, carriers could choose between duty at the country's applicable rate or a flat fee of between 80 and 200 dollars per item, depending on that country's tariff tier. It was a calculation option, not a value threshold. For international mail this arrangement ended on 28 February 2026.

The practical conclusion for an artist is straightforward: understating the value on the declaration saves nothing. Insurance compensation for a lost item is calculated on the declared value, not the actual one, so the risk is out of all proportion to the gain.

How to document a painting or a print run

Forget marking the package "personal gift, no commercial value". CBP stopped taking such notes at face value long ago, and since 29 August 2025 gift status confers no exemption at all. Every shipment to the US now rests on three documents: a correctly completed CN22 declaration (for items up to 300 SDR, roughly 400 dollars) or CN23 (for higher values), a commercial invoice with the consignee's details, and the HS code for the item.

Inspection of an international postal item by US Customs and Border Protection officers.

Who pays what, in real numbers

Take a concrete case. An oil painting at 400 dollars, shipped from Kyiv by EMS. HS code 9701.21, 1.8 kg packed. Before 29 August 2025 the recipient paid nothing in duty. Between 29 August 2025 and 24 February 2026, while the IEEPA surcharge applied, the 10% baseline produced around 40 dollars in duty plus the carrier's brokerage fee (typically 15–25 dollars with DHL and FedEx). After the Supreme Court ruling the IEEPA tariffs were withdrawn; for original paintings under HTS 9701 the base MFN rate is zero, so the amount now due depends on whether the sender's country falls within the Section 301 wave. Check on the day you ship.

A second example. A run of 20 hand-pulled prints at 60 dollars each, 1,200 dollars for the parcel. HS code 9702, base MFN rate under HTS: 0%. While the 10% IEEPA surcharge was in force the recipient would have paid around 120 dollars; that surcharge ended on 24 February 2026. For a consolidated lot destined for a marketplace rather than a single gallery delivery, add a carrier brokerage fee of roughly 3% of shipment value.

The 10% figure in this table reflects the IEEPA surcharge under EO 14257 before the Supreme Court struck it down on 20 February 2026, and the Section 122 rate that ran until 24 July 2026. The table is included for historical reference. Confirm the amount payable on your shipping date with the CBP calculator or your carrier's broker.

Five options for artists

The most common mistake is rewriting the price list to hide the duty. The American market reacts badly: clients see one price on your site and another on the DHL invoice, and trust erodes. The opposite works better: transparency, with customs costs folded into a single DDP figure. It goes through more calmly and your reputation survives.

What sits outside the frame

Executive Order 14346 included one important carve-out. Products that cannot be produced or extracted in the United States in sufficient volume, along with certain categories of agricultural goods, aviation equipment and generic pharmaceutical components, may receive a zero reciprocal rate under the terms of final agreements. Original art, meanwhile, retained its zero MFN rate under HTS 9701 and 9702: the base duties for paintings, artist's prints and unique sculpture never changed. The 10% IEEPA surcharge was withdrawn along with the other IEEPA tariffs after the Supreme Court ruling of 20 February 2026. In practice this means that for originals the rate matters less than the declaration procedure itself, which did not go anywhere when de minimis ended.

US Customs and Border Protection screening international freight at a marine terminal.

A separate note on sanctions and parallel restrictions. Artists working with materials from sanctioned sources — birch plywood or pigments of Russian origin, for instance — risk an additional check. It has nothing to do with the work itself, but explaining the provenance of your materials at the broker's twelfth question is an unpleasant experience. List the composition of the canvas and ground as a separate line in the work's documentation.

In summary

The tariff changes turned a parcel to the United States from a simple postal operation into a small export project. The 800-dollar threshold is history, and the CN22 declaration has become a required skill for any artist selling into the States. The bad news: your client's costs have gone up. The good news: the rules are now the same for everyone, and doing the paperwork properly no longer puts you at a disadvantage.

Frequently asked questions