DHL Group’s postal subsidiary in Germany is one of the first postal operators worldwide to resume parcel shipments to the United States four weeks after they suspended service because of an abrupt change to U.S. customs rules for small-dollar imports.
Post and Parcel Germany announced Tuesday it will begin shipping packages for businesses to the United States and Puerto Rico on Thursday, but will require upfront payment of duties to comply with the U.S. requirements. Australia Post resumed postal deliveries to the United States on Monday.
The Trump administration on Aug. 29 ended the de minimis exemption for commercial goods valued below $800. The rule allowed low-value goods to enter the country duty free and with minimal paperwork. E-commerce companies took advantage of the exemption to directly ship orders to buyers from overseas fulfillment centers, but U.S. officials said the expedited processing of 1.4 billion individual shipments opened the door to smuggling and unfair advantages for foreign retailers.
Postal traffic to the United States dipped more than 80% following the suspension of the de minimis exemption, according to the Universal Postal Union. Nearly 90 postal operators suspended some or all postal shipments to the United States.
Most cross-border parcel shipments move through commercial channels, but many smaller businesses, such as fashion brands and Etsy sellers, use national postal operators to ship packages to the United States.
Postal operators had to pause service to the United States because the U.S. Postal Service didn’t have the ability to process entries through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s automated system.
President Donald Trump’s executive order, as a temporary fix, placed the burden of customs duty collection and remittance on transportation carriers or CBP-approved qualified parties. But airlines, which lacked the systems to manage the increased complexity of advance data submission, pre-declarations of taxes and new handling procedures upon arrival, made clear they were unwilling to bear that responsibility — and postal operators initially couldn’t establish links with the list of CBP qualified service providers, causing major operational disruptions.
Post and Parcel Germany, also known as Deutsche Post, handles mail and parcels within Germany and from Germany to other countries.
DHL said it will extend a “postal delivered duty paid” service, previously offered only for goods shipping to Norway, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, to the United States. Doing so required it to rapidly overhaul the entire process of data collection, customs reporting and payment of applicable customs fees. Businesses must provide complete and accurate customs data, particularly the customs tariff number and country of origin for each individual item.
Post and Parcel Germany will charge 2 euros (equivalent to $1.18) for the pre-paid duty service. Fees from transport providers and the customs duties themselves will be passed on to shippers without any markup, DHL said.
“The additional costs incurred by business customers for postal shipping to the USA will be based solely on external factors for which DHL is not responsible and over which it has no control,” the company said in a news release.
Individuals may still send gifts to the United States duty free if they are valued at $100 or less.
Since the de minimis ban, many consumers receiving goods via private sector couriers have been surprised by bills with extra fees due upon delivery as retailers pass on tariffs that apply to the specific country of origin. The U.S., for example, recently imposed a 15% on goods from the European Union, including Germany.
Australia Post is working with Zonos, one of the CBP authorized third-party providers, to offer U.S. parcel shipping to businesses. Other authorized customs brokers for postal shipments include Flexport and DHL eCommerce.
Universal Postal Union tool helps move mail to U.S.
Earlier this month, the Universal Postal Union — the UN special agency for global postal cooperation — introduced a landed-cost calculator to help postal operators resume delivery to the United.
Postal operators can access the tool, which automatically calculates all required duties and fees at origin, via an application programming interface that can be integrated into their retail and counter shipping systems. The UPU said it will also provide solutions to help postal organizations transfer the required data and remit the amounts to the qualified third parties so mail can keep moving.
Write to Eric Kulisch at [email protected].
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