President Trump’s executive order that suspends the import tax exemption on incoming low-value parcels for all countries could be forcing European and global postal services to suspend deliveries to the US starting August 29.
The Hellenic Post (ELTA) is among the affected carriers already warning their customers on the latest development. “If no solutions are established before the regulation takes effect on 29 August 2025, Hellenic Post—like other European postal services—may be forced to temporarily suspend the shipment of goods to the United States through postal networks,” ELTA said in an announcement released on Friday.
“Hellenic Post, alongside other European postal operators, is feverishly working to develop solutions that will allow both business and individual customers of Hellenic Post to continue shipping their goods to the United States, in accordance with the new customs requirements,” it concluded.
Global postal services affected by new US regulations for incoming low-value parcels
Currently, low value goods and gifts can be imported into the US duty-free from other countries due to a de minimis customs threshold of $800. Effective August 29, 2025, items and goods valued below this threshold that were previously exempt from duties will now be subject to duties from the very first dollar. These duties must be paid to US Customs before goods enter the country.
The executive order that leaves the shipment of global low-value parcels to the US in limbo was signed on July 30, introducing “new regulations which follow a different approach from those provided globally by the Universal Postal Union,” according to PostEurope, the association representing 51 European postal operators responsible for providing the Universal Postal Service.
“This measure will significantly affect all postal companies worldwide and their customers sending shipments through postal networks to the United States Postal Service (USPS),” PostEurope, in which ELTA is also a member, warned in an announcement.
“Critical issues and processes, such as customs duties collection, the data to be collected, and the interaction with the US Customs and Border Protection, are not yet clearly defined. Select technical details were only released on 15 August, leaving an extremely short timeframe to prepare,” the association describes.
If those critical issues and processes are not defined and, thus, compliant solutions cannot be found before the regulations take effect on August 29, PostEurop Members, in alignment with the competent National Authorities, may be constrained to temporarily restrict or suspend the shipping of goods via the postal networks to the USA.
European carriers already not accepting parcels to the US
Some carriers have already stopped accepting parcels to the US. Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany has temporarily suspended the acceptance and transport of business customer parcels via the postal network to the US since August 22.
Shipping via DHL Express remains possible, while packages and parcels that contain only gifts from individuals to individuals with a value of up to $100 and are declared as “gift,” as well as documents, can continue to be sent as usual.
This also applies to the postal service of the Czech Republic, which warns of longer delivery times even for the above exemptions. Malta’s postal services suspended the acceptance of parcels to the US on Saturday, and for the Spanish postal service, the suspension will go into effect from Monday.
In some cases, such as Liechtenstein, postal services won’t even accept documents and letters for shipment to the US.
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