If you woke up one morning in late August and realized your online shopping habit had been PTSD-triggered by an empty tracking page, you were not alone.
The global postal network hit a literal shipping skid: postal traffic into the United States plunged by more than 80% after the U.S. ended the long-standing “de minimis” tariff exemption for low-value imports — and postal operators around the world promptly pressed the pause button.
The Universal Postal Union (UPU) — the 192-member agency based in Bern, Switzerland — gave the diplomatic equivalent of a weeping emoji on Saturday.
“The global network saw postal traffic to the U.S. come to a near-halt after the implementation of the new rules on Aug. 29, 2025,” the UPU said in a statement, adding that the rules for the first time shifted the burden of customs duty collection and remittance onto transportation carriers or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)-approved qualified parties.
In plain English: someone has to collect the money before your $12 novelty lamp crosses the ocean, and postal services don’t want that job.
Eighty-eight postal operators have told the UPU they’ve suspended some or all postal services to the United States until there’s a workable plan.
The result?
The Bern agency’s electronic network reported an 81% drop in traffic on August 29 compared with a week earlier.
Packages from Grandma in Italy? Stalled.
The artisanal soap your friend sells on Etsy from Latvia? On hold.
That $19 ceramic sloth from a small business in Thailand that you absolutely needed? Also, very cold.
Why the panic?
For decades the de minimis exemption allowed parcels valued under $800 to glide into the U.S. without customs fuss. That exemption dates back — in some form — to 1938, and it became the lubricant for modern cross-border e-commerce.
The administration that removed it argues the exemption had evolved into a loophole that allowed foreign vendors and criminals to dodge tariffs and ship contraband.
Now, nearly everything under $800 must be vetted and may be subject to tariffs running 10% to 50% — depending on the tariff schedule — and someone has to do the math and collect the cash.
The operational problem is brutal and basic: many national post services and carriers don’t have systems that integrate with CBP-qualified collection agents.
Airlines and carriers, the UPU noted, told postal operators they “weren’t willing or able to collect such duties,” and foreign posts had not established links to qualified collection partners.
That, and the short timetable, made compliance a logistical and technical nightmare.
The fallout is multi-front:
• Small businesses: Sellers who relied on inexpensive cross-border deliveries now face new costs, or a sudden halt in shipments.
• Diaspora shoppers: Families sending low-cost packages home for birthdays or holidays suddenly face the specter of surprise duties and derailed gift plans.
• Postal operators: The UPU is scrambling to roll out measures to help calculate and remit duties, but building the plumbing takes time — and patience is short.
• Online marketplaces: Expect more friction at checkout and longer delivery timelines while platforms adjust.
The UPU had politely waved a flag and written to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to express concerns about the timing and implementation.
The White House has defended the move as closing loopholes and combating smuggling, and has carved out limited relief: gifts under $100 and personal souvenirs up to $200 remain duty exempt.
For everyone else, welcome to the new world of micro-taxes.
There are also political theater angles.
Critics say the abruptness of the change reveals a lack of coordination between trade policy and operational reality — like ordering a city to switch from cars to flying carpets without checking battery life.
Postal unions around the world are telling their members to stop accepting packages bound for the U.S. until a clear, cooperative system exists.
Imagine a Monday in late summer where your parcel’s tracking page simply updates to, “On indefinite hold for geopolitical reasons.” ....Charming.
And yes, there’s a cosmic irony: in an era obsessed with frictionless commerce, a 1938 relic’s sunset has produced more friction than an underground clog of a thousand tiny stamps.
The UPU is now trying to build temporary bridges — technical links, paperwork workflows, qualified remitters — so mail can move again without postal services being forced to become tax collectors overnight.
If you’re wondering what this all means for your online life: expect more transparent duties at checkout (eventually), potentially higher prices, and — for a while — boxy silence from some international sellers.
If you’re feeling nostalgic, now might be a good time to mail that letter to Grandma the old-fashioned way (and perhaps tuck in a nicely declared $90 gift).
Either way, the de minimis cliff has shown us something obvious but easily forgotten: the marvel of the global post isn’t just in planes and trucks.
It’s in legal, technical, and diplomatic plumbing. Turn off one valve suddenly and the whole house starts to drip.
Parcel Panic: Europe Hits Pause Button On Parcels As U.S. Dumps Duty-Free Gifts...
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