Australia’s postal service mentioned on Tuesday (August 26, 2025) it had quickly suspended parcel shipments to the United States after President Donald Trump’s administration determined to scrap a customs tax rule that allowed low-value packages to enter responsibility free.
The Australian government-owned Australia Post’s transfer comes after a number of European and Asian carriers, together with Swiss Post and DHL, which runs Germany’s postal service Deutsche Post, Japan Post and Korea Post paused shipments to the United States due to the brand new guidelines.
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“We are disappointed we have had to take this action, however, due to the complex and rapidly evolving situation, a temporary partial suspension has been necessary to allow us to develop and implement a workable solution for our customers,” Australia Post mentioned in a press release.
The U.S. authorities mentioned final month that packages valued at or below $800 despatched to the United States would face all relevant duties from August 29 because it suspended a “de minimis” exemption for low-value shipments.
Goods shipped via the postal system would face one among two tariffs: both an “ad valorem duty” equal to the efficient tariff price of the package deal’s nation of origin or, for six months, a selected tariff of $80 to $200 relying on the nation of origin’s tariff price.
Packages despatched to the U.S. and Puerto Rico lodged on or after August 26 wouldn’t be accepted till additional discover, the postal service mentioned. Gifts below $100, letters and paperwork are unaffected by the change.
Australia Post mentioned it will proceed to work with the U.S. and Australian authorities, and worldwide postal companions to renew companies to the U.S. quickly.
Nicola Charwat, Senior Lecturer at Monash University, mentioned the influence in Australia could be largely felt by small companies that promote on to U.S. customers.
“This includes businesses specialising in sustainable clothing and gifts, as well as distinctly Australian goods such as cosmetics, food and wine. These parcels will now be subject to a 10% baseline tariff,” Charwat mentioned.
Japan Post on Monday mentioned it will droop accepting some postal objects to the U.S. Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa mentioned the transfer would have “only a limited impact” on customers as there have been different delivery strategies.
South Korea has stopped delivery packages to the U.S. although clients will have the ability to ship via its partnership service with UPS, Korea Post mentioned final week.
FedEx’s Australian enterprise mentioned it continued to simply accept and transport shipments to the United States.
“As an express carrier, our international express offerings are not impacted by the decisions of postal operators,” FedEx Regional Vice President Peter Langley mentioned in a press release.
