Postal services across the world announced they are halting shipments to the United States amid President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Last month, the president revealed plans to broaden the United States’ initiative to address the ‘de minimis’ loophole. This loophole had allowed packages valued under $800 to bypass import duties. The expansion of this effort to worldwide parcels is set to commence on August 29.
However, international postal services have expressed that they have not received any directive from the United States regarding the new requirement to charge import duties on all incoming parcels. Consequently, many have decided to halt shipments to the US until the matter is clarified.
According to LaPoste, France’s postal service, ‘European postal services are pressed with an extraordinarily short timeframe for adaptation, especially given the ongoing need for further clarifications on these procedures,’ as mentioned in their statement to the Financial Times.
It will now stop shipping most merchandise to the US on Monday, as will postal services in Austria and Singapore.
Similarly, the UK’s Royal Mail announced it would stop package deliveries to the US on Tuesday to ensure items reach their destination before the duties are imposed. They noted that parcels originating from the UK exceeding $100 in value, including gifts for family and friends, will now face a 10 percent duty fee.
The postal services of Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, and South Korea have also declared an immediate suspension of shipments to the US.
Additionally, Postnord, a Nordic logistics firm, and Italy’s postal service declared similar suspensions starting Saturday. Australia Post has also temporarily halted ‘transit post routed from other countries through to the US,’ although this only impacts a ‘limited number’ of shipments.
Americans may have to wait longer for their packages to arrive, as postal services across the world announced they are halting shipments to the United States
They cite a lack of guidance since the United States suspended the de minimis loophole, which allowed packages to come into the country duty-free if they were valued at less than $800
DHL, the largest shipping provider in Europe, also announced this week that starting Saturday it ‘will no longer be able to accept and transport parcels and postal items containing goods from business customers destined for the US’.
‘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 U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be carried out,’ the company said.
Trump and European leaders had agreed in a trade framework last month to a 15 percent tariff on the vast majority of products shipped from the EU, and without the de minimis rule, packages valued at under $800 will now be subject to the tariff.
Yet La Poste said the US did not provide full details or allow enough time for the French postal service to prepare for the new customs procedures.
´Despite discussions with U.S. customs services, no time was provided to postal operators to re-organize and assure the necessary computer updates to conform to the new rules,´ it said in a statement.
PostNL spokesperson Wout Witteveen also claimed the Trump administration is pressing ahead with the new duties despite US authorities lacking a system to collect them. He said that the Netherlands’ postal service is now working closely with its American counterparts to find a solution.
‘If you have something to send to America, you should do it today,’ he said.
And in India, communications officials said Trump’s executive order closing the de minimis loophole requires transport carriers or other ‘qualified parties’ approvved by the US to collect and remit the tariff duties.
But ‘several critical processes relating to the designation of “qualified parties” and mechanisms for duty collection and remittance remain undefined.
DHL, the largest shipping provider in Europe, also announced this week that starting Saturday it ‘will no longer be able to accept and transport parcels and postal items containing goods from business customers destined for the US’
‘Consequently, US-bound air carriers have expressed their inability to accept postal consignments after 25th August, 2025, citing lack of operational and technical readiness,’ India’s communications ministry said.
Björn Bergman, head of PostNord´s Group Brand and Communication, added that the pause on shipments to the US from Nordic countries was ‘unfortunate but necessary to ensure full compliance of the newly implemented rules.’
If clarification on the new rules does not come by August 29, PostEurop – an association representing 51 European public postal operators – warned that more members will likely follow suit with their own suspensions.
The move comes as experts say Americans will soon see increased prices on common goods.
Experts say tariffs that have gone into effect this month will soon start affecting Americans’ wallets
Kyle Peacock, founder of Peacock Tariff Consulting, told Daily Mail that Americans should expect to add an extra $40 a week to their grocery bill within the next three to six months due to tariffs.
‘We have started to see certain products suffer,’ he said. ‘Coffee prices have already jumped, so have vegetables.’
He said consumers will start to feel the blows come October as companies can no longer keep taking on the weight of tariffs themselves.
Arie Brish, a St. Edward’s University business professor, agreed, saying the lag is due to taking ‘time to propagate in the ecosystem’.
‘Some supply and distribution chains prepared themselves and stocked up before tariffs took effect,’ Brish told Daily Mail.
