Royal Mail suspends US parcel deliveries as Trump axes tariff exemption

The Royal Mail has announced it will temporarily halt accepting parcels destined for the United States amidst sweeping changes to American import regulations. The move follows President Donald Trump’s decision to remove a long-standing loophole permitting goods valued under 800 dollars to enter the US without incurring duties, a mechanism referred to as the “de minimis” exemption.

From this Friday, this exemption will be rescinded, compelling shippers to pay duty on goods of any value. Crucially, the new levy will not apply to gifts and items sent between family or friends, which remain duty-free under the revised regime. However, postal services face the added responsibility of ensuring all consignments comply with the updated requirements, prompting Royal Mail to withhold shipments temporarily out of concern that parcels sent imminently may not clear US customs in time.

A newly designed Royal Mail service for US-bound parcels is poised for launch later this week. Whilst individual postage rates will remain unaffected by the regulatory shift, a 50p per parcel handling fee will be introduced to absorb the cost of supplementary clearance processes. This additional charge will appear as a separate handling fee alongside standard postage.

The impact is likely to be keenly felt by e-commerce traders and small exporters reliant on low-value exports to the US, a market previously buoyed by the favourable de minimis threshold. According to data from US Customs, last year saw approximately 1.4 billion packages, valued at 64.6 billion dollars, enter the US under the erstwhile exemption, with a significant portion originating from China, driven by budget online outlets such as Temu and Shein. Parcels from the UK will now face a 10 percent tariff, while those arriving from the EU could attract levies of up to 15 percent.

Gifts under 100 dollars sent to the US will remain duty-free, although heightened scrutiny and additional checks are expected to counteract potential abuse of the exemption for commercial goods. Numerous European postal operators have mirrored Royal Mail’s caution, including La Poste, Deutsche Post, Poste Italiane and Correos, all suspending US-bound shipments for the present period as regulatory uncertainty and technical queries persist throughout the sector.

As international shipping adapts to this paradigm shift, British consumers and exporters must prepare for additional costs, greater scrutiny, and potential disruptions in transatlantic e-commerce, especially in the immediate aftermath of these significant regulatory changes.