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Postal volumes being transported to US - largely by airfreight - have dropped by more than 80% following the country’s suspension of the duty-free de minimis exemption.
The US suspended de minimis globally on 29 August, following the end of the exemption for China and Hong Kong at the start of May.
The exemption had allowed e-commerce platforms to fly packages worth less than $800 into the country without paying any import fees, resulting in a boom in online sales in recent years.
The Universal Postal Union (UPU) said new rules placed the burden of customs duty collection and remittance on transportation carriers or US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency-approved qualified parties.
“Carriers, such as airlines, signalled they were unwilling or unable to bear this responsibility and postal operators had not yet established a link to the list of CBP qualified parties, causing major operational disruptions,” the UPU said.
Following the suspension, more than 88 postal operators have now suspended some or all postal services to the US until a solution is implemented.
In an update issued this weekend, the UPU said it had deployed a tool that would help postal operators calculate and collect duties.
As of 5 September, postal operators can access a landed-cost calculator via an application programming interface (API) that can be plugged into their retail and counter solutions. The solution enables posts to calculate and collect the required duties from customers at origin.
The UPU’s Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) solution will also soon be integrated in its Customs Declaration System (CDS) platform, allowing a gradual roll-out by the 176 postal operators using this platform.
Solutions to transfer the required data and to remit the amounts to the qualified third party will also be provided, and posts will have at their disposal all the necessary technological tools to keep the mail moving. The UPU will support postal operators with the roll out of this complete solution, including adapting their internal procedures and training postal staff.
“The UPU has in its mission the responsibility to guarantee the free circulation of postal items over a single postal territory. We’re working to uphold that responsibility with the rapid development of a new technical solution that will help get mail moving to the United States again,” said UPU director general Masahiko Metoki.
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.
