European postal services suspend shipment of packages to US over tariffs
[August 25, 2025] By
DEMETRIS NELLAS and MAE ANDERSON
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The end of an exemption on tariff duties for
low-value packages coming into the United States is causing multiple
international postal services to pause shipping as they await more
clarity on the rule.
The exemption, known as the “ de minimis" exemption, allows packages
worth less than $800 to come into the U.S. duty free. A total of 1.36
billion packages were sent in 2024 under this exemption, for goods worth
$64.6 billion, according to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
Agency.
It is set to expire on Friday. On Saturday, postal services around
Europe announced that they are suspending the shipment of many packages
to the United States amid confusion over new import duties.
Postal services in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy said they will
stop shipping most merchandise to the U.S. effective immediately. France
and Austria will follow on Monday.
The U.K.'s Royal Mail said it would halt shipments to the U.S. on
Tuesday to allow time for those packages to arrive before duties kick
in. Items originating in the United Kingdom worth over $100 — including
gifts to friends and family — will incur a 10% duty, it said.
“Key questions remain unresolved, particularly 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,” DHL, the largest shipping
provider in Europe, said in a statement.
The company said starting Saturday it “will no longer be able to accept
and transport parcels and postal items containing goods from business
customers destined for the US.”
A trade framework agreed on by the U.S. and the European Union last
month set a 15% tariff on the vast majority of products shipped from the
EU. Packages under $800 will now also be subject to the tariff.
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. The exemption is being
extended to shipments from around the world.
Many European postal services say they are pausing deliveries now
because they cannot guarantee the goods will enter the U.S. before Aug.
29. They cite ambiguity about what kind of goods are covered by the new
rules, and the lack of time to process their implications.
Postnord, the Nordic logistics company, and Italy's postal service
announced similar suspensions effective Saturday.
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A Royal Mail Post Office is seen in London, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013.
(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, file)
 “In the absence of different
instructions from US authorities ... Poste Italiane will be forced,
like other European postal operators, to temporarily suspend
acceptance of all shipments containing goods destined for the United
States, starting August 23. Mail shipments not containing
merchandise will continue to be accepted,” Poste Italiane said
Friday.
Shipping by services such as DHL Express remains possible, it added.
Björn Bergman, head of PostNord’s Group Brand and Communication,
said the pause was “unfortunate but necessary to ensure full
compliance of the newly implemented rules.”
In the Netherlands, PostNL spokesperson Wout Witteveen said the
Trump administration is pressing ahead with the new duties despite
U.S. authorities lacking a system to collect them. He said that
PostNL is working closely with its U.S. counterparts to find a
solution.
"If you have something to send to America, you should do it today,”
Witteveen told The Associated Press.
Austrian Post, Austria’s leading logistics and postal service
provider, stated that the last acceptance of commercial shipments to
the U.S., including Puerto Rico, will take place Tuesday.
France's national postal service, La Poste, said the U.S. did not
provide full details or allow enough time for the French postal
service to prepare for new customs procedures.
″Despite discussions with U.S. customs services, no time was
provided to postal operators to re-organize and assure the necessary
computer updates to conform to the new rules,″ it said in a
statement.
PostEurop, an association of 51 European public postal operators,
said that if no solution can be found by Aug. 29 all its members
will likely follow suit.
___
Anderson reported from New York. Associated Press 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.
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