The Department of Posts on Sunday announced a complete suspension of all mails to the USA over president Donald Trump’s tariff policy. Earlier on 22 August, the department had announced a temporary suspension of parcels to the USA valued over $100, but now shipment of all parcels has been suspended.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Communications said, “In view of the ongoing inability of carriers to transport U.S.-bound mail and in the absence of defined regulatory mechanisms, it has been decided to completely suspend the booking of all categories of mail, including letters, documents, and gift items valued up to USD 100, destined for the USA.”
It further added, “The Department is closely monitoring the situation and making every effort to restore services at the earliest. Customers who have already booked items that could not be dispatched may claim a refund of postage.”
Global parcel deliveries to the United States of America have been impacted after president Trump revoked the “de minimis” tariff exemption, which allowed shipments of items valued under $800 to be imported to the USA without any import duty. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 30th July shutting down this exemption.
As per new rules, such shipments will attract import duty according to the tariff fixed for the originating country. However, letters/documents and gift items valued up to $100 remain exempt from these new duties, according to the executive order.
The introduction of tariff on small value items have caused huge delays at US ports. As a result, major carriers have stopped shipping such packages to the USA. Several countries in the world have suspended parcel deliveries to the USA for this reason. India Post’s latest decision indicates that shipping issues have not been sorted yet, and they had to suspend shipment of even tariff exempted items.
