A duty-free exemption is about to expire amid Trump’s trade war. So postal services across Europe will halt shipments to the U.S.

Economy·Tariffs and tradeA duty-free exemption is to expire amid Trump’s trade war

So postal services across Europe will halt shipments to the U.S.By Demetris NellasBy Mae AndersonBy The Associated PressBy Demetris NellasBy Mae AndersonBy The Associated Press U.S

Postal Service dery vehicles parked outside a post office in Boys Town, Neb.Nati Harnik—AP PhotoThe end of an exemption on tariff duties for low-value packages coming into the United States is causing multiple international postal services to pause shipping as they await more clarity on the rule

A total of 1.36 billion packages were sent in 2024 under this exemption, for goods worth $64.6 billion, according to data from the U.S

Customs and Border Patrol Agency

It is set to expire on Friday

On Saturday, postal services around Europe announced that they are suspending the shipment of many packages to the United States amid confusion over new import duties

Postal services in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy said they will stop shipping most merchandise to the U.S. effective immediately

France and Austria will on Monday

The U.K.’s Royal Mail said it would halt shipments to the U.S. on Tuesday to allow time for those packages to arrive before duties kick in

Items originating in the United Kingdom worth over $100 — including gifts to friends and family — will incur a 10% duty, it said. “Key questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what additional data will be required, and how the data transmission to the U.S

Customs and Border tection will be carried out,” DHL, the largest shipping vider in Europe, said in a statement

The company said starting Saturday it “will no longer be able to accept and transport parcels and postal items containing goods from customers destined for the US.” A trade framework agreed on by the U.S. and the European Union last month set a 15% tariff on the vast majority of ducts shipped from the EU

The U.S. duty-free exemption for goods originating from China in May as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to curb American shoppers from ordering low-value Chinese goods

The exemption is being ext to shipments from around the world

Many European postal services say they are pausing deries now because they cannot guarantee the goods will enter the U.S. before Aug. 29

They cite ambiguity what kind of goods are covered by the new rules, and the lack of time to cess their implications

Postnord, the Nordic logistics company, and Italy’s postal service announced similar suspensions effective Saturday. “In the absence of different instructions from US authorities … Poste Italiane will be forced, other European postal operators, to temporarily suspend acceptance of all shipments containing goods destined for the United States, starting August 23

Mail shipments not containing merchandise will continue to be accepted,” Poste Italiane said Friday

Shipping by services such as DHL Express remains possible, it added

Björn Bergman, head of PostNord’s Group Brand and Communication, said the pause was “unfortunate but necessary to ensure full compliance of the newly implemented rules.” In the Netherlands, PostNL spokesperson Wout Witteveen said the Trump administration is pressing ahead with the new duties despite U.S. authorities lacking a system to collect them

He said that PostNL is working closely with its U.S. counterparts to find a solution. “If you have something to send to America, you should do it today,” Witteveen told The Associated Press

Austrian Post, Austria’s leading logistics and postal service vider, stated that the last acceptance of commercial shipments to the U.S., including Puerto Rico, will take place Tuesday

France’s national postal service, La Poste, said the U.S. did not vide full details or allow enough time for the French postal service to prepare for new customs cedures. ″Despite discussions with U.S. customs services, no time was vided to postal operators to re-organize and assure the necessary computer to conform to the new rules,″ it said in a statement

PostEurop, an association of 51 European public postal operators, said that if no solution can be found by Aug. 29 all its members will ly suit.Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world

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