
The expiry of a long-standing tariff exemption for low-value parcels entering the United States has prompted several European postal services to halt shipments as they await clarity on new customs rules.
The exemption, known as the de minimis rule, currently allows packages worth under $800 to enter the US free of duty. In 2024, some 1.36 billion parcels valued at $64.6 billion were sent under this arrangement.
The waiver lapses on Friday, after which a 15 percent tariff agreed under a new US–EU trade framework will apply to almost all goods, regardless of value. Postal operators in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy announced on Saturday that they were suspending most merchandise deliveries to the US with immediate effect. France and Austria will follow suit on Monday.
UK's Royal Mail said it would stop dispatches to the US from Tuesday, to ensure parcels already in transit arrive before the new duties take effect. It confirmed that items sent from Britain worth over $100 — including personal gifts — will face a 10 percent tariff.
DHL, Europe’s largest shipping provider, said key questions remained unanswered, including who would be responsible for collecting duties and what additional data would be required. From Saturday, DHL said it could “no longer accept and transport parcels and postal items containing goods from business customers destined for the US.”
The change follows the Trump administration’s earlier move in May to end the duty-free exemption for goods originating in China, part of a wider effort to discourage US consumers from buying low-value imports. That restriction has now been extended globally.
Many operators said they were suspending shipments because they could not guarantee parcels would clear US customs before 29 August. Italy’s Poste Italiane confirmed it had stopped accepting merchandise for America from 23 August, though letters and documents would still be handled. PostNord, the Nordic logistics group, said the pause was “unfortunate but necessary” to comply with the rules.
Dutch postal service PostNL warned of confusion, saying the US had yet to establish a proper system for collecting the new tariffs.
Austria’s postal operator announced its final acceptance of commercial shipments to the US and Puerto Rico will be on Tuesday, while France’s La Poste complained that Washington had provided insufficient detail or time to adjust computer systems and customs processes.
PostEurop, the umbrella body for 51 European public postal services, cautioned that if no resolution is reached by 29 August, members across the continent will likely suspend all deliveries of goods to the US.