Global postal services suspend US shipments amid de minimis changes

Global postal services are enacting either a full or partial pause on shipments to the US amid the region’s changes to the de minimis rule, which had allowed for packages worth under 800 dollars to enter the country duty-free.

First introduced in 2016, President Donald Trump had first brought the exemption to an end in May for goods imported from China. Later in July, Trump then signed an executive order that extended the loophole’s abolishment worldwide.

From August 29, a new rule will be imposed that will allow letters and personal gifts under 100 dollars to be exempt from tariffs upon entering the US. All other packages will face the standard tariffs on imported goods from their respective countries.

Packages shipped to the US that arrive prior to August 29 will not have tariffs imposed. However, those that arrive after may be returned to the sender to avoid additional fees, some postal services have said.

In response to the incoming changes, a slew of global carriers have now placed a full suspension on shipments to the US, or have outlined certain restrictions, some on a temporary basis, as they figure out next steps.

Germany’s DHL said it would impose temporary restrictions on posting goods for private and business customers, having already placed a halt back on August 22 on accepting and transporting parcels to the US from business customers.

“Key questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what additional data will be required, and how the data transmission to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be carried out,” DHL said in a statement.

Global postal services grapple with swift and unclear changes

Postal services across mainland Europe, including in Belgium, France, Lithuania, Czech and Slovenia, have already fully suspended shipments to the US, while in the UK, the Royal Mail withdrew export services for businesses and said it was hoping to set up a new system to comply with the rules ahead of their introduction.

A similar shift could be seen among service providers in New Zealand and Australia, where customers in both regions were warned of increased postage fees. While in New Zealand, parcel deliveries to the US are “temporarily unavailable”, Australia Post said it had partnered with Zonos, a US customs payment operator, to establish a new billing system that hopes to allow customers to prepay duties.

The shift in de minimis has left many postal agencies at a loss, with many stating that the little information provided on the new rules has meant they have been unable to adjust and adapt in a timely manner.

PostEurop, the trade association representing public postal operators in Europe, said technical specifications and implementation details were only issued by the CBP on August 15, “leaving European postal services with an extremely limited timeframe to get prepared”. “Moreover, their related documentation still requires further clarification,” it added.

For the US, meanwhile, the potential end of de minimis has long been a topic of discussion. The policy had already come under scrutiny from former President Joe Biden, whose own administration had begun to throw doubt over the future of the loophole.

Upon stepping into the White House, Trump then accelerated efforts to permanently dismantle the policy, explicitly accusing Chinese sellers of taking advantage of the loophole and claiming that the free flow of unchecked small packages had enabled entry of illicit goods into the US.

Following the abolishment of de minimis for Chinese imports, US trade organisations called on Trump to enact a full ban. The National Council of Textile Organisations, for example, had requested for the “destructive” loophole to be ended globally in order to avoid an influx of Chinese products entering the US via third-party countries.