Parts of Europe Suspend Postal Shipments to the US as Customs Rules Change
Postal Operators in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and More Halt Parcels to the Us Ahead of the End of Duty-free Exemptions for Low-value Goods.
International shoppers and small businesses are reeling from a dramatic shift in global trade as Europe suspends postal shipments to US. This move, which applies to all packages except letters, comes just ahead of a major U.S. customs policy change that is set to end a long-standing exemption for low-value goods.
The End of a ‘De Minimis’ Era
The central problem stems from the Trump administration’s move to end the “de minimis” exemption, a policy change set to take effect on August 29. This exemption previously allowed international shipments valued at under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free and with minimal customs paperwork.
This has been a cornerstone of the global e-commerce boom, allowing small businesses and individual sellers to reach a massive American market without logistical hurdles.
With the exemption gone, these low-value packages will now be subject to tariffs and a complex customs declaration process. Postal operators like Posten Bring of Norway, PostNord of Sweden and Denmark, and bpost of Belgium stated they were not given sufficient time or clear instructions on how to handle the new requirements.
The lack of a clear payment mechanism for duties or a system for managing returns on refused packages has led them to conclude that a temporary suspension is the “only option.”
PostNord, for example, cited the “short timeframe to adapt to the new specific requirements” as the reason for its temporary halt. This leaves sellers with pending US-bound orders scrambling to cancel or find alternative shipping methods before the August 23 deadline.
The Domino Effect on Global Retail
The ripple effect is not limited to these European countries. Etsy, the popular e-commerce platform, has already announced a temporary suspension of shipping label purchases for US-bound packages from major carriers like Australia Post, Canada Post, Evri, and Royal Mail, starting on August 25.
The company explained that these operators are currently unable to support prepaid duties, which could result in a flood of rejected packages and unexpected costs for American buyers.
This has left a trail of independent sellers, particularly in the UK, in a state of crisis. Many have taken to social media to inform customers that they can no longer accept US orders. The reason? Royal Mail is said to be introducing a flat fee of around $80, along with additional handling costs, for parcels sent to the U.S. Highlighting the strain this creates.
A UK crystal retailer explained on Instagram that while they plan to resume shipping eventually, they do not want customers burdened with fees exceeding $80 — a concern echoed by many small businesses.
This move marks a significant disruption to a system that has supported millions of small-scale cross-border transactions for years. The ease of shipping a low-value item across the Atlantic has suddenly been replaced by a maze of tariffs, fees, and paperwork that many postal services and independent sellers are not equipped to handle.
An Unclear Road Ahead
The immediate future for international e-commerce is murky. It is not clear when these suspensions will be lifted, as postal services and carriers work to develop compliant solutions.
For consumers, this means fewer shopping options from popular international sellers and potentially higher costs for the items they can still purchase. For the millions of small businesses that rely on the US market, it poses a severe threat to their livelihoods.
The White House has not yet commented on the situation, but the policy change is part of a broader shift in global trade strategy. While the aim may be to address issues of trade imbalances and illicit goods, the immediate consequence is a global shipping logjam that is impacting everyone from major e-commerce platforms to individual crafters.
The temporary freeze on shipments and the increasing costs of cross-border e-commerce illustrate how seemingly minor policy changes can have a major, immediate, and disruptive impact on the global marketplace. The world of online shopping, which once felt borderless, is now facing a new and restrictive reality.
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