European, Asian shippers cut U.S. off as tariff deadline nears
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A British postbox. Photo: Tim Graham/Getty Images)
A number of European and Asian postal agencies have started pausing or cutting off shipments to the U.S., citing uncertainty over the end of the so-called de minimis tariff exemption this week.
Why it matters: Small-dollar commerce — and gift-giving — could grind to a halt in the coming days, threatening the flow of hundreds of millions of packages a year.
Catch up quick: In late July, President Trump formally revoked the de minimis exemption, which excluded packages worth $800 or less from tariffs.
- He'd previously lifted the exemption for packages from China; as of August 29, it goes away for all other countries, too.
Zoom out: Many international carriers, citing uncertainty about the new rules and a lack of time to create enforcement mechanisms, have opted to pause sending packages to the U.S. altogether.
- PostEurop, a trade group for the continent's national postal operators, listed at least 16 as of Sunday that intend to pause or restrict shipments to the U.S. due to the new regulations.
- Carriers in Asia are beginning to take the same approach as well.
Zoom in: The U.K.'s Royal Mail said it would end existing shipment services this coming Tuesday, with plans to resume using the new tariff regime as soon as Thursday.
- Belgium's Bpost paused shipments as of August 23, saying it was working on implementing a new system.
- Germany's Deutsche Post put the same restrictions in place on August 22.
- Postal authorities in France, Greece, Austria and the Nordic countries, among others, also indicated shipments could or would be disrupted.
- Japan Post said Monday it would also suspend accepting parcels for shipment to the U.S., saying the procedures laid out by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to comply with the new rules are "not clear."
By the numbers: An estimated 1.3 billion packages entered the U.S. last year under de minimis rules, about 60% from China.
- The changes have already had a significant impact on discount retailers like Shein and Temu, whose shipments to the U.S. suddenly got substantially more expensive.
The bottom line: Tariffs aren't just for cargo ships full of giant containers anymore.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.
