Athens, Greece (AP) – End of a discount on tariff duties The United States is causing a wide range of postal services to prevent shipping for low-value packages coming in the United States as they are waiting for more clarity on the rule.
Exemption, known as ” De minimis According to data from the US Customs and Border Petrol Agency, “Rebate, the package of less than $ 800 allows US duty free. A total of 1.36 billion packages were sent in 2024 under this discount.
It is ready to end next Friday. On Saturday, several postal services around Europe announced that they were suspending the shipments of several packages to the United States amid a lack of clarity on new import duties.
Postal services in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy said that they would immediately stop shipping most of the goods to the US. France and Austria will follow Monday and the United Kingdom on Tuesday.
Europe’s largest shipping provider said in a statement, “The main questions are unresolved, especially about how and by whom the customs duties will be collected in the future, what will be required for additional data, and how to transmission data for US customs and border security,” DHL, the largest shipping provider in Europe, said in a statement.
The company said that starting on Saturday, it will not be able to accept and transport parcels and postal items with customer goods goods in luck for the US. “
A Trade structure by America and European Union agreed Last month, 15% tariffs are determined on most of the products sent from the European Union. The package under $ 800 will now be subject to tariffs.
Many other European postal services say they are now stopping delivery as they cannot guarantee that goods will enter the US before August 29. They cite ambiguity of what kind of goods have been covered by new rules, and lack of time to process their implications.
Postnord, Nordic Logistics Company and Italian postal service announced a similar suspension on Saturday.
“In the absence of separate instructions from American authorities … Post Italian will be forced to temporarily suspend all shipments fixed to the United States, like other European postal operators, all shipments starting on August 23.
Shipping is possible by services like DHL Express, it is added.
Berman Bergman, head of the postnord’s group brand and communication, said the stagnation is “unfortunate but necessary, but is necessary to ensure complete compliance of the newly implemented rules.”
In the Netherlands, PostNL spokesman Wout Wetven said that the Trump administration is moving forward with new duties despite American officials, which lacks them a system to gather. He said that PostneL is working closely with its American counterparts to find a solution.
“If you have something to send to America, you should do it today,” Witven told the Associated Press.
Austria’s leading logistics and postal service providers, Austria Post, said that the final approval of commercial shipment for the US including Puerto Rico will be held on Tuesday.
France’s National Postal Service, La Post said that the US did not give complete information or did not allow sufficient time for the French Postal Service to prepare for new customs procedures.
“Despite the discussion with the US customs services, the post operators did not give any time to the postal operators to re -organize and assure the required computer updates to suit the new rules,” said this in a statement.
The UK’s Royal Mail said it would prevent US shipment on Tuesday “to come before kicking duties to allow time for those packages.” The items generated in the UK will require 10% duty for items of more than $ 100, it said.
Posurop, an association of 51 European Public Postal Operators, said that if no solution could be found by August 29, all its members will follow the suit.
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Anderson reported from New York. Associated Press Writer Angela Charlton in Paris; Costas Kanturis in Thessaloniki, Greece; Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna; Brian Melley in London and Molly Quail in Amsterdam contributed to the report.
Demetris Nelus and Mae Anderson, Associated Press