Starting August 29, the United States is abolishing the preferential regime that allowed parcels valued up to $800 to enter duty-free. Under the new regulations, postal operators are required to pay duties before packages even arrive on US soil. The question arises: how likely is an international postal collapse?
A number of international postal services have stopped sending parcels to the US, and even the shipment of goods to America, due to new Trump-era tariffs. Among European operators, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, and Belgium have notably announced such measures. In Asia, the Korean and Singaporean postal services have restricted their operations. Japan has warned of potential delays or returns of packages. France`s national postal service, along with several other operators, explicitly stated that these actions are a direct response to Donald Trump`s decision.
As previously mentioned, from August 29, the US is eliminating the duty-free import practice for parcels valued up to $800. Now, postal services are obligated to pre-pay customs duties for all shipments destined for the US. The global press is actively discussing the potential for a large-scale disruption in the international postal system.
Bloomberg reports that postal services have paused operations due to confusion. Operators are unsure how to process millions of inexpensive parcels that will be subject to duties starting next week. Previously, the duty-free regime applied to over four million parcels daily, largely driven by e-commerce.
The Financial Times notes that in recent years, the duty-free threshold has been a significant boon for online retail, facilitating direct-to-consumer shipments, especially for Chinese companies like Shein and Temu. Trump`s decision was initially aimed at curbing cheap Chinese imports, but it now threatens broader implications far beyond this scope.
France24 highlights that European postal services have very little time left to prepare for the changes. For instance, the French postal service annually sends approximately 1.5 million parcels to the US.
According to the Korea Times, starting next week, the Korean postal service will limit its US shipments to documents and letters only. Parcel delivery to the States will exclusively be available through a premium service, with duties collected from the recipient.
The BBC reports that the UK postal operator Royal Mail is actively working on a new delivery system and hopes to launch it within a few days to comply with the new rules before they come into effect.
Trump`s decision has created significant confusion regarding import taxes, which are to be levied on parcels by the end of the month. According to the US Customs and Border Protection, after the repeal of exemptions, duties on parcels will be calculated based on the tariff rate of the country of origin. The duty-free status will only remain for gifts valued under $100. Consequently, goods manufactured in the EU will be subject to a 15% duty, and goods from China will face a 30% duty. However, for Chinese goods, this applies only until November 9, as long as the trade truce between China and the US is in effect.
Rupert Blackwood 
Clement Ashworth