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The US has begun implementing new tariffs on small packages from around the world, ending a loophole that has allowed billions of dollars of goods to enter the country duty-free.
President Donald Trump announced earlier this summer that he would eliminate a tariff waiver that allowed goods worth less than $800 to enter the US duty-free. All packages entering the country will now be subject to tariffs regardless of their value.
The levies on low-value goods, introduced on Friday, represent the latest escalation of Trump’s trade war, which has pushed US tariffs to the highest level in decades and rattled trading partners and allies.
The move has prompted global postal services to announce they will stop sending mail to America. Agencies in Germany and Singapore said US authorities have not provided enough clarity on how the duties will be collected.
A senior administration official said the US was working with foreign partners and the US Postal Service to “ensure that there is minimal disruption”.
The global suspension of the so-called de minimis treatment for low-value goods follows a move by Trump earlier this year to end the waiver for goods from China and Hong Kong.
The increased tariffs primarily hit online Chinese retailers that ship directly to US consumers, such as Shein and Temu.
The White House said that between 2015 and 2024, the volume of de minimis shipments entering the US annually increased from 134mn to more than 1.36bn. A factsheet said the de minimis exemption had been “abused”, and used to smuggle the deadly opioid fentanyl into the US.
“Foreign post offices need to get their act together when it comes to monitoring and policing the use of international mail for smuggling and terror pervasion purposes,” said Peter Navarro, the president’s senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing.
US officials said that since eliminating the loophole for Chinese packages, the number of packages entering the US using the de minimis route had fallen from 4mn a day to 1mn a day.
But one official said that unless the suspension was applied globally, China would “tranship” goods by routing them through other countries to disguise their origin.
Senders of low-value packages into the US will be asked to pay the reciprocal tariff rate of their country of origin from one minute past midnight, or pay a fixed amount ranging from $80 to $200.
Another official said the second method, which will only be available for six months, was designed to give postal services more time to set up systems that will collect information from senders and shippers about the contents of their mail.
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