Several postal services across Europe are temporarily suspending shipments of packages to the United States due to a “lack of clarity” about Donald Trump’s new import tariffs, CBS News reports.
Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy said they will stop shipping most merchandise on Saturday. France and Austria will halt shipments on Monday, and the United Kingdom will follow on Tuesday.
Starting Aug. 29, international goods worth less than $800 will no longer be exempt from import tariffs. However gifts and small parcels valued less than $100 will continue to be exempt.
This comes after Trump signed an executive order last month suspending the de minimis exemption which allows low-value parcels that are shipped to the US to avoid tariffs.
Many European postal services say they are pausing deliveries now because of uncertainty about the new rules and they cannot guarantee that goods will enter the U.S. before the new rule goes into effect.
Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany said they “will no longer be able to accept and transport parcels and postal items containing goods from business customers destined for the US.”
“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 Protection will be carried out,” DHL, the largest shipping provider in Europe, said in a statement.
India’s also said the country will temporarily suspend postal deliveries to the U.S. starting Monday. Furthermore, PostEurop, an association of 51 European public postal operators, said they will likely suspended shipments to the U.S. if no solution is found by next Friday.
