Global shipping is facing significant disruption as the United States prepares to end its long-standing "de minimis" exemption for low-value packages, effective August 29. President Donald Trump's decision to eliminate this policy, which previously allowed over 4 million parcels daily to be processed by US Customs and Border Protection with minimal interruption, is sowing chaos and uncertainty across international postal services and online retailers.

In anticipation of these changes, a growing number of national mail services around the world are implementing or planning temporary suspensions of parcel deliveries to the US. This widespread reaction stems primarily from a critical lack of clear guidance from American authorities regarding the new procedures for collecting duties and submitting required customs data. For instance, the Czech Republic's postal service will suspend US goods shipments indefinitely from Thursday, while Austria Post ceased accepting packages for the US after August 25, citing insufficient information on future customs clearance processes. Belgium’s Bpost also announced a temporary halt to US-bound parcels starting Friday, and the UK’s Royal Mail plans a one to two-day suspension next week to transition to a new system for duty payments. Australia Post has temporarily suspended its transit service deliveries for items from third countries routed through Australia to the US, though direct deliveries from Australia remain unaffected, with a spokesperson emphasizing the rapid evolution of the situation and their efforts to find solutions.

Industry representatives, such as Kate Muth, executive director of the International Mailers Advisory Group, foresee a worrying "ripple effect," with more postal services likely to suspend packages to the US. Muth described Trump's decision to eliminate the de minimis exemption as having a "seismic impact" on a system that once facilitated a smooth flow of low-value parcels into the country.

With the exemption's termination, US imports shipped by mail will be subject to duties based on country-of-origin tariff rates, which President Trump imposed through emergency powers. Alternatively, for the next six months, packages sent via international post could incur a temporary flat fee ranging from $80 to $200 per item. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) outlined in an August 15 bulletin how these flat fees would be calculated, corresponding to the countries’ tariff rates. The agency also issued guidance on Thursday, certifying two companies to collect and pay duties on behalf of international mail carriers. While welcomed by Muth, she noted that the limited time before the deadline and the small number of approved entities remain a concern.

The repercussions are extending beyond traditional mail carriers to online marketplaces. Etsy Inc., for example, plans to suspend its shipping label service for US-bound packages from national mail services in Australia, Canada, and the UK starting August 25. The company is advising shippers to use carriers with established services for pre-paying duties, such as United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. FedEx has confirmed that its operations remain unaffected by the postal operators’ decisions and that it continues to accept and transport shipments to the US. UPS and the US Postal Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.