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Royal Mail is to stop accepting parcels bound for the US as it braces for the impact of new tariffs announced by Donald Trump.
The postal service has joined a number of operators across Europe in suspending most shipments to the US from Tuesday, amid uncertainty sparked by incoming new laws.
President Trump last month signed an executive order scrapping a tax exemption that allowed goods worth $800 or less to enter the US duty-free.
The loophole, known as the “de minimis” exemption, will be removed from this coming Friday, forcing shippers to pay new duties. The new taxes will only apply to goods bought and sold; gifts and goods sent between family and friends will be exempt.
However, postal services will still need to ensure all packages comply with the new regime and Royal Mail said it would stop accepting parcels over concerns that those sent on Tuesday would not have enough time to reach US customs before the new rules come into effect.
Royal Mail is to launch a new service for shipping packages to the US, which is expected to be available from Thursday.
While its individual postage pricing will remain the same following the changes, Royal Mail will add a 50p per parcel handling charge to cover the additional costs associated with providing clearance services into the US. This will be invoiced as a handling fee in addition to postage costs.
The crackdown is expected to have a major impact on e-commerce companies and small businesses exporting low-value goods to the US.
Around 1.4 billion packages containing goods worth $64.6bn (£4.8bn) entered the US last year under the de minimis exemption, according to US Customs figures.
Around 60pc of these originated from China, amid a boom in shopping on cut-price sites such as Temu and fast fashion brand Shein.
The level of the tariff will depend on which country the products have been sent from. Items originating from the UK will be subject to a 10pc tariff, while those from the EU will be hit with a 15pc levy.
Consumers will still be allowed to ship gifts worth less than $100, although postal operators have warned that packages will be subjected to extra checks to ensure the service is not being used for commercial goods.
A spokesman for Royal Mail said: “We have been working hard with US authorities and international partners to adapt our services to meet the new US de minimis requirements so UK consumers and businesses can continue to use our services when they come into effect. Consumers sending gifts worth less than $100 will not have to pay duty.”
France’s La Poste, Germany’s Deutsche Post, Poste Italiane and Spain’s Correos have also suspended parcel shipments to the US, joining the Belgian, Swedish and Danish postal services.
DHL, which owns Deutsche Post, blamed uncertainty over how the tariffs would work as well as a lack of time to prepare.
It said: “Key questions remain, particularly regarding who will have to pay the tariffs and how, what additional data will be required, and how data will be transmitted to US Customs.”
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