When the Mail Stops: How Trump’s Tariff Rule Cut Off Global Packages to the U.S.

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It started quietly—with the end of the de minimis rule, a small trade exemption that once made global mail simple. For decades, it allowed packages worth under $800 to enter the United States without tariffs or customs forms. The term de minimis is Latin for “too small to matter.” But this time, it mattered a lot. Did you know that when the Trump administration suspended the exemption on August 29, 2025, millions of packages stopped moving?

Table of Contents

• When the Mail Stops: How Trump’s Tariff Rule Cut Off Global Packages to the U.S.
• What changed: A Political Move Disguised as “Fair Trade”
• Who’s Affected: Everyone, not Just Online Sellers
• Why it matters: Mail is Connection
• What Other Countries are Doing
• The Bigger Picture: Another Trump-era wall
• What Happens Next
• Final Thoughts

What Changed: A Political Move Disguised as “Fair Trade”

For years, Americans enjoyed a simple privilege called the de minimis exemption. Packages valued under $800 could enter the U.S. without tariffs. That rule made small trade possible. Artists, families, and online sellers around the world could send affordable packages here.

In August 2025, the Trump administration suspended that exemption. The White House said it would “protect American businesses” from unfair competition. In practice, it choked the flow of global mail. Most parcels entering the country now require customs paperwork and, in many cases, duties—even for low-value items like a $20 shirt or a $5 souvenir.

Postal services worldwide struggled to adjust. Many lacked systems to collect and forward U.S. taxes. Within days, countries including France, Germany, Japan, and Australia suspended or delayed most U.S.-bound parcels—not out of choice, but because they couldn’t comply fast enough.

Who’s Affected: Everyone, not Just Online Sellers

The hardest hit are ordinary people—expats trying to send gifts home, small overseas sellers who rely on Etsy or eBay, and families who live apart but stay connected through care packages.

Big corporations, meanwhile, will adapt. They have customs brokers, lawyers, and global warehouses. They’ll absorb the costs and pass them on to customers. But smaller creators—like a soap maker in France or a craftsman in Korea—can’t match those resources. Their shipments stall at the border.

For everyone else, it means paying more for less—fewer global products, fewer affordable imports, and less cultural exchange at the most basic level: mail.

Why it Matters: Mail is Connection

This policy isn’t just about trade. It’s about how we connect. Mail has always been personal. It’s how soldiers send letters home, how grandparents ship toys to grandkids, and how friends share local coffee beans or postcards that remind us of each other.

By disrupting global mail, Trump’s tariff move doesn’t just tax goods—it taxes relationships. It isolates Americans further from the world and feeds a broader push toward nationalism that turns everyday connections into political tools.

What Other Countries are Doing

More than 30 countries have stopped or limited parcel shipments to the United States—a story hardly anyone is talking about. In 2024, the last full year before the global suspension, the U.S. processed around 4 million de minimis packages each day, totaling roughly 1.36 billion shipments valued at more than $64 billion. The exemption first ended for China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025, targeting a surge of low-value shipments from fast-fashion companies like Shein and Temu, before a full global suspension followed on August 29, 2025.

Commercial courier services such as DHL Express, FedEx, and UPS remain operational despite these sweeping changes. While DHL’s postal-network branch has been affected, its express division continues to deliver to the U.S. under commercial customs clearance. Meanwhile, parcels declared as “gifts” or sent from one individual to another—typically valued under US $100—are still accepted by many postal services, according to The Guardian. Letters and documents, which qualify as non-commercial goods, remain largely unaffected and continue to circulate without major disruption.

Countries Pausing or Restricting Shipments

Countries pausing or restricting shipments include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Updates from major carriers:

• New Zealand: New Zealand Post restarted shipments on Aug. 28 with a new commercial option.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: Pošta Sarajevo and Pošte Srpska stopped accepting U.S.-bound parcels on Aug. 22.
• Germany: DHL Parcel Germany and Deutsche Post stopped all U.S. parcel transport on Aug. 23.
• Japan: Japan Post limited some shipment types on August 25 but said the overall impact would be small.
• South Korea: Korea Post continues to deliver through its UPS partnership.
• Australia: FedEx Australia continues shipping to the United States.

The Bigger Picture: Another Trump-era Wall

This isn’t just about boxes and customs codes. It’s about access, power, and control. The administration argued that foreign sellers had an “unfair advantage” under the old $800 rule. But the policy’s real effect is the opposite—it gives large American corporations more leverage while pushing smaller global sellers out.

It’s another kind of wall, built not from bricks but bureaucracy. And like most walls, it punishes ordinary people while claiming to protect them.

What Happens Next

I don’t know when—or if—the de minimis exemption will be reinstated, but I’ll try to update this post as things change. Postal agencies around the world are still working to adapt. The Universal Postal Union is testing new digital customs systems to help member nations meet the added data requirements. The U.S. may eventually adjust or clarify parts of the policy, but for now, the disruption remains widespread.

Packages are piling up. People are frustrated. And for many, this is the first time they’ve felt the direct impact of a Trump trade policy in their daily lives.

This isn’t a global failure—it’s an American one. Trump’s decision to end the de minimis exemption didn’t strengthen the country. It isolated it. And until that changes, the rest of the world will keep holding its mail, wondering why a nation that once connected the world through commerce now keeps closing the door.

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