Multiple international postal services are temporarily suspending shipping packages to the United States as the “de minimis” exemption is set to end on Friday, Aug. 29. This exemption lets items come into the United States without certain tariffs if they are valued at less than $800.
According to Customs and Border Protection, the number of shipments that entered the United States with the de minimis exemption increased by at least 600% over the last several years, going from 139 million a year in FY2015 to over 1 billion annually by FY2023.
A message sent out by CBP on Aug. 15 states that a package’s tariff rate will be equal to that of its country of origin once the de minimis exception is no longer in place.
PostEurop, which represents postal operators in 51 countries, said in a statement on Tuesday that it is closely following developments surrounding the exemption.
“Critical issues and processes, such as customs duties collection, the data to be collected, and the interaction with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, are not yet clearly defined,” PostEurop said. “…At this time, if critical issues and processes are not defined and, thus, compliant solutions cannot be found before the regulations take effect on 29 August 2025, PostEurop Members, in alignment with the competent National Authorities, may be constrained to temporarily restrict or suspend the shipping of goods via the postal networks to the USA.”
German, Danish, Swedish and Italian postal services said they will stop shipping most merchandise to the United States immediately on Saturday, the Associated Press said, while France and Austria will halt U.S. shipping on Monday. In addition, Korea Post will suspend air mail to the U.S. starting on Monday and stop packages on Tuesday, India is suspending most postal services to America on Monday, and Singapore’s postal service is pausing their shipping from Aug. 25 to the 29th. Australia Post also announced it is pausing shipping before tariffs set in.
DHL Parcel Germany and Deutsche Post cited “key questions” that “remain unresolved” as why it’s not transporting goods to the United States for now.
“The reason for these anticipated temporary restrictions is new processes required by U.S. authorities for postal shipping, which differ from the previously applicable regulations,” DHL said in a press release.
Shipping through DHL Express will still be possible, the release noted.
Royal Mail in the United Kingdom said it will stop U.S. shipments on Tuesday so any packages sent can arrive before next Friday. In addition, items from the United Kingdom worth over $100, including gifts, will be subject to a 10% duty, the AP wrote.
Wout Witteveen, spokesperson for the Netherlands’ Post NL, told the AP that the service is working closely with United States counterparts to find a solution.
Still, he said: “If you have something to send to America, you should do it today.”
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Author: Cassandra Buchman
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