Postal Traffic to U.S. Down 81% after Suspension of Tariff Exemption for Low-value Parcels

Postal traffic to the United States has plunged 81 percent after Washington suspended tariff exemption for low-value imports, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) said Saturday.

The UPU said data exchanged between postal operators via its electronic network shows traffic from its member countries to the United States was down 81 percent on Aug. 29 from a week earlier.

"Furthermore, 88 postal operators informed the UPU they have suspended some or all postal services to the United States until a solution is implemented," the UPU, a specialized UN agency for the postal sector with 192 member countries, said in a statement.

The UPU is working on "the rapid development of a new technical solution that will help get mail moving to the United States again," said UPU Director General Masahiko Metoki.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on July 30, ending the long-standing "de minimis" exemption rule, which allowed goods worth less than 800 U.S. dollars to enter duty-free, starting Aug. 29.

Postal traffic to the United States came to a near halt after the implementation of the new rules, which for the first time placed the burden of customs duty collection and remittance on transportation carriers or qualified parties approved by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said the UPU.

Carriers, such as airlines, signalled they were unwilling or unable to bear this responsibility, while postal operators had not yet established a link to the list of CBP-qualified parties, causing major operational disruptions, it said. 

Xinhua/RSS