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Australia joins list of countries halting postal services to United States | What we know
The decision aligns with actions from other global postal services such as India, New Zealand and more amid changing customs regulations.
Australia's national postal service Australia Post on Tuesday announced temporary suspension of services to the United States effective immediately, over the recently imposed changes to import tariffs for postal items sent to the US and Puerto Rico.
“As a result of recently announced changes to import tariffs for postal items sent to the US and Puerto Rico, Australia Post will temporarily partially suspend postal services to the United States and Puerto Rico, effective 26 August 2025 until further notice,” read Australia Post's official media release.
Letters, documents of no commercial value and gifts valued under USD$100 will not be impacted by the new tariff rules or temporary suspension, the release added.
The decision comes after President Donald Trump's administration decided to scrap a customs tax rule that allowed low-value packages to enter duty free.
Trump administration in the last month decided to scrap the global “de minimis” rule, which previously allowed goods valued under $800 to enter America with minimal paperwork, HT reported earlier.
The change, effective August 29, means every parcel entering the US will now attract customs duties except small gifts under $100, as per an Executive Order issued on July 30.
Also read | New Zealand suspends postal services to US as 15% tariff takes effect; joins likes of India, Italy and more
Earlier on June 27, Australia Post had announced that items sent to and from the US may experience delays due to flight capacity issues, which had then impacted postal operations and delivery services.
The postal service further affirmed that it is monitoring the situation closely and will provide updates on the impacts of the regulatory changes on their customers, and Australian outbound parcel services to the US, as they become available.
India, Germany, Austria and more suspend postal services to US
Additionally several European and Asian carriers, including India Post, Swiss Post and DHL, which runs Germany's postal service Deutsche Post, Japan Post and Korea Post paused shipments to the United States because of the new rules.
Japan Post on Monday said it would suspend accepting certain postal items to the US economy minister Ryosei Akazawa said the move would have "only a limited impact" on users as there were alternative shipping methods.
South Korea has stopped shipping packages to the US though customers will be able to send through its partnership service with UPS, Korea Post said last week.
Also Read | Italy, UK, France and more suspend postal services to US after Trump tariff move | Full list
FedEx Australia to continue operations
Meanwhile, FedEx in Australia said that it would continue to accept and transport shipments to the United States.
“To expedite your shipment, FedEx may pay the duties and taxes to customs on your behalf. This service may incur a Disbursement Fee (applies to duty and tax payors) or Duty and Tax Forwarding Fee (applies to duties and taxes invoiced to third-party payors outside the destination country/ territory), depending on the shipment destination,” read FedEx Australia's official website.
The de minimis exemption however applies on the services offered by the company.
“Effective August 29, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT, the duty-free de minimis exemption treatment for commercial shipments to the US with a value at or below US$800, and that would otherwise qualify for the de minimis exemption will be removed, regardless of the country of origin of the products,” the website read.
(With inputs from Reuters)
