Postal services in Europe are temporarily suspending deliveries to the United States just days before a significant customs change takes effect.

According to reports from CNBC, this freeze is related to an executive order from former President Donald Trump officially ending the de minimis tax exemption for foreign packages valued under $800. This order affects every country, not just China, and takes effect from this Friday.

Packages below that threshold have been imported into the United States without paying customs duties or detailed customs procedures for over a century. That is ending right now. The suspension of deliveries to the United States by nine countries (Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Switzerland) is a result of this.

Their systems cannot adapt to the new regulations, and carriers do not know how to charge customs fees, who will collect them, or how to communicate that information to U.S. government agencies.

DHL, Correos, and La Poste freeze parcels as chaos spreads

DHL issued a statement on Friday confirming that Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany have stopped accepting parcels going to the United States. "Key questions remain unresolved," the company said, "especially regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what additional data will be required, and how to communicate that information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection." The final option is DHL Express, which is still operating but at a much higher cost.

Correos, Spain's national postal service, stated in a release that it only received a full compliance request from U.S. authorities on August 15.

"This situation forces Correos, along with all carriers sending parcels to the United States, to significantly change their processes and enhance shipment controls to meet new customs requirements, significantly affecting international postal logistics and e-commerce traffic," the agency said. The freeze began on Monday, with no specific timeline for when it will reopen.

Belgium's national airline said it would suspend operations starting Saturday, and France's La Poste announced that it would suspend deliveries to the United States starting Monday. To the north, Finland's Posti halted deliveries to the United States last Saturday. Days later, they said they could no longer handle either gifts or letters because, according to them, "some airlines have refused to ship any postal items to the United States."

The suspension primarily affects shipments under $800. Items such as letters and original gifts are not excluded, but this is no longer the case in some countries. Airlines withdrawing from shipping agreements are adding pressure to struggling postal systems.

Small businesses in Europe feel the pain first

The sudden suspension is expected to hit small exporters in Europe the hardest. Americans buying directly from small European retailers, not the big brands, are the ones in a difficult position. Most large companies, especially those operating in the U.S., have not used de minimis from the start. They ship goods in large containers to warehouses in the U.S. and pay taxes.

But platforms like Temu and Shein, which heavily rely on de minimis, have experienced significant price increases and weakened demand after the tax exemption from China ended in May. Now, with Europe losing similar benefits, a similar impact could occur for sellers using standard postal services.

No country has specified a restart date. All have said that the suspensions are only temporary. But the issue is not just bureaucracy. It's technology. No existing postal system is designed to track the new U.S. customs requirements or transmit detailed package data to U.S. officials.

Even if their technology catches up, the bigger question is who pays customs fees and how to collect those fees. No one has the answers, not the carriers, not the postal offices, and not the airlines that refuse to ship goods.

Register for a Binance account to receive permanent trading fee refunds:

- New account registration link: https://accounts.binance.com/register?ref=Q2FSX523

- Referral code: Q2FSX523