International mail services in Europe halt deliveries of parcels to the United States due to import tariff disputes

The deadline for the expiration of the "de minimis" exemption, which allows duty-free entry for packages worth less than $800 into the U.S., is fast approaching. This has led to a wave of suspensions and pauses in commercial shipments to the U.S. by several European postal services.

La Poste, France's national postal service, has expressed concerns about the lack of time to prepare for new customs procedures from the U.S. PostEurop, an association of 51 European public postal operators, may follow suit if no solution can be found by Aug. 29.

DHL, the largest shipping provider in Europe, has announced it will no longer accept and transport parcels and postal items containing goods from business customers destined for the U.S., starting Saturday. The same move has been made by Deutsche Post DHL and Royal Mail in the UK. Postnord, the Nordic logistics company, and Italy's postal service have announced similar suspensions effective Saturday. Austrian Post, Austria's leading logistics and postal service provider, will accept the last commercial shipments to the U.S., including Puerto Rico, on Tuesday.

The U.S. did not provide full details or allow enough time for postal services to prepare for the new customs procedures, according to La Poste. Key questions remain unresolved 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 Trump administration is pressing ahead with new duties despite U.S. authorities lacking a system to collect them, according to Wout Witteveen, a PostNL spokesperson. The U.S. duty-free exemption for goods originating from China ended in May, as part of the Trump administration's efforts to curb American shoppers from ordering low-value Chinese goods. This exemption is now being extended to shipments from around the world.

In 2024, 1.36 billion packages were sent to the U.S. under this exemption, with a total value of $64.6 billion. The U.S.-EU trade deal is a work in progress, according to a recent report. The Associated Press reports that if no solution is found, all members of PostEurop may halt shipments to the U.S.

The U.K.'s Royal Mail will halt shipments to the U.S. on Tuesday, with items over $100 incurring a 10% duty. The pause on commercial shipments to the U.S. by PostNL in the Netherlands will end on Tuesday.

Nellas and Anderson write for the Associated Press and reported from Athens and New York, respectively. AP writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki, Greece, Stephanie Lichtenstein in Vienna, Brian Melley in London, and Molly Quell in Amsterdam contributed to this report.

The trade framework agreed upon by the U.S. and the European Union last month sets a 15% tariff on the majority of products shipped from the EU, with packages under $800 now also subject to the tariff. This has caused confusion and concern among European postal services, leading to the suspensions and pauses in deliveries.

As the deadline for the expiration of the "de minimis" exemption approaches, it remains to be seen how the situation will develop and whether a solution can be found to allow for the smooth continuation of international trade between the U.S. and Europe.