More than 30 international postal agencies have now paused or limited shipments to the US ahead of the de minimis exemption ending 29 August.
SEKO Logistics said in a 27 August update that as of 26 August, countries that have suspended, or announced a suspension of, postal service to the US include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and the UK.
SEKO said: "These agencies are awaiting US regulatory guidance and need time to upgrade systems to calculate and collect new tariffs. Most are still handling letters and small “gift” packages (under $100)."
On 30 July, US President Trump signed an executive order suspending the de minimis exemption for commercial shipments valued at $800 or less for all countries, effective 29 August. The de minimis exemption was revoked for Chinese-origin goods on 2 May.
Under the postal network exception, goods shipped through the postal system will face one of two duty types:
- Ad valorem duty: A tariff based on the package’s value, calculated using the tariff rate for the country of origin under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
- Specific duty: A flat rate of $80 - $200 per item, also based on the effective IEEPA tariff rate applicable to the country of origin of the product.
The specific duty option will be available for six months, after which all applicable shipments must comply with the ad valorem duty methodology.
Low-value goods shipped through means other than the international postal system will be subject to all applicable duties immediately.
DHL Group said on 22 August that Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany would temporarily suspend the acceptance and transport of business customer parcels via the postal network to the US from 23 August.
The Association of European Postal Services - PostEurope - has also communicated that its member companies will need to temporarily restrict or suspend the shipping of goods through postal networks to the US in accordance with the relevant national authorities.
The Universal Postal Union (UPU) additionally said its member countries have expressed concerns about operational readiness, regulatory alignment, and continuity of postal flows.
The UPU said the postal operators of 25 member countries have suspended their outbound postal services to the US.
"Recognising that the short implementation timeline poses a significant challenge for the international postal network, particularly for the delivery of e-commerce items, the UPU is working with the relevant US authorities to ensure that information on the operational requirements of the measures is communicated effectively to other member countries," said the UPU.
The union added that it is "working with relevant postal stakeholders on network-wide and sustainable solutions. One such initiative – already in motion – is the accelerated development of a scalable delivered duty duty-paid solution that will facilitate duty collection and remittance across the UPU network".
