Spain’s national post office service Correos has announced that it will temporarily suspend the shipment of low-value packages to the United States as a result of Trump’s new customs regulations.
Correos announced it’s suspension plans this Monday, August 25th, affecting all low-value packages to United States and Puerto Rico.
The move is due to the end of the customs regime in the US and new tariffs that President Donald Trump has introduced.
The new measure is due to affect shipments with a commercial value of $800 (which is around €681.50) or less.
It’s important to note though, this temporary suspension will not affect letters or documents that are not of commercial nature or items such as gifts or books sent by individual people with a value of less than $100 (€85.56). They will continue to be accepted and can be sent as normal.
Therefore, as long as items are not sent for commercial purposes and they’re under the value limit, you can still send them.
According to Correos, the United States eliminated the tariff exemption for these types of shipments and gave them very short notice. They received the notification on August 15th with a deadline of August 29th.
This has forced the suspension of shipments” they explained, “in order protect the interests of customers”.
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The suspension is temporary, until Correos can modify its logistics processes and strengthen its customs controls.
The company has already warned that it will have a significant impact on international postal logistics and e-commerce, in line with other affected operators such as DHL.
Starting Thursday August 29th, any package destined for the US or Puerto Rico will be subject to the corresponding customs duties, depending on the origin and value of the product.
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This is not just in Spain where this is happening, this is an EU-wide issue. Postal services in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy have stopped shipping most merchandise to the U.S already.
France and Austria follow suit from today Monday 25th.
Even though it’s not part of the EU anymore, the UK is also affected by the US tariffs and change in customs regime, and will also suspend sending low value packages across the pond from Tuesday August 26th. Items originating in the UK will now require a 10 percent duty for items over $100.
“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,” shipping company DHL said in a statement.
A total of 1.36 billion packages were sent in 2024 under duty free exemption, for goods worth $64.6 billion, according to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency.
