United States ends tariff exemptions for small packages

Tariff exemptions for most small packages entering the United States ended this Friday, the 29th, prompting 25 countries to suspend postal services to the world's largest economy.

The repealed rule allowed packages worth less than $800 (4,333 reais) to enter the United States duty-free.

Republican President Donald Trump decided, in an executive order signed on July 30, that the exemptions would be eliminated with the intention of "ending a catastrophic loophole used, among other things, to avoid tariffs and ship synthetic opioids, as well as other dangerous products."

According to the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), small packages contained 98% of narcotics, 97% of counterfeits, and 70% of hazardous materials seized in 2024.

Ending the exemptions “will save thousands of lives by reducing the flow of dangerous and prohibited narcotics and products,” a US government official said.

Washington justifies the measure due to the explosion in the sending of postal packages, which, according to US government data, rose from 134 million units in 2015 to more than 1.36 billion in 2024.

From now on, packages worth more than $100 (541 reais) must pay the same tariffs as other imports. This represents a minimum of 10%, or 15% for those originating from the European Union (EU) and up to 50% for India and Brazil , for example.

Only gifts or personal shipments worth less than $100 will qualify for the exemption.

Even before it came into effect, the measure caused turmoil and had already begun to disrupt package shipments to the United States.

The United Nations Universal Postal Union said Tuesday that postal operators in 25 member countries have suspended mail services to the United States amid uncertainty ahead of the measure's implementation.

Among the countries that adopted the suspension are Germany, France, Italy, Mexico, Australia, India and Japan.

“It’s not a surprise”

The reason given for the suspension is the short deadline to implement the measure. The text establishes that "carriers and other authorized parties must collect fees in advance from shippers" before transferring them to CBP, according to the UN postal agency.

"Given the lack of additional information on the technical conditions for sending packages to the United States from US Customs, we have no other option and must temporarily suspend shipments," a source at La Poste in France confirmed to AFP .

But for the government, “foreign postal services must reconsider the control and use of international mail to prevent trafficking and avoid tariffs,” according to a source.

The end of the exemption “is not a surprise to anyone,” he said.

The end of exemptions poses an additional challenge for small businesses, particularly those that prioritize this type of package. British retailer Elizabeth Nieburg, for example, has stopped shipping products to customers in the United States.

American buyers account for nearly 20 percent of its sales, and Nieburg says it will need to raise prices if the new tariffs remain in place. "Our margins are too tight to absorb them," an executive lamented in an interview with AFP .

Furthermore, the costs can be considerable for American companies that receive their products in small quantities from overseas, like Ken Huening's company.

The California-based company, which makes outdoor covers in China and Mexico , had to eliminate free shipping for customers.

"Currently, textile and manufacturing services are not available in the United States," Huening told AFP . "They could be in the future, but in the meantime, we're all out of business," he added.

The small packages were already in the sights of the previous government, led by Democrat Joe Biden , who had launched an initial investigation into the matter.

Trump had published a first executive order that specifically targeted small packages from China , which represent the majority of those entering the United States, sent especially by networks such as Temu, Shein or AliExpress.