Austria’s national postal service has joined other European carriers in suspending parcel shipments to the United States (including Puerto Rico) from August 26th.
The temporary stop is due to concerns about new import regulations in the US, the postal service said on Thursday.
“The regulation allowing goods valued under $800 to be imported into the US duty- and tax-free has been abolished. At the same time, postal customs processes have been changed, and there is currently insufficient information available about the customs clearance procedures that will be required in the future,” the Austrian Post said on Thursday.
The suspension of the rule means that customs duties must now be paid on all goods, bar a few exemptions.
Exemptions include gifts from private individuals worth less than $100 and the shipping of documents.
Goods can also still be shipped to the US as a ‘Post Express International’ product because these shipments go through different clearance processes, the postal service explained.
Austrian Post director General Walter Oblin recently said that the direct impact of US President Donald Trump’s customs policy on the postal service was minor, as a six-figure number of mail items are sent to the the US annually, Austrian news agency APA reported.
The US government’s changes are presenting challenges for post offices all over the world who are shipping to the US.
On Wednesday, several European postal companies, including Norway’s Posten and PostNord, the main international courier in Denmark and Sweden, also said they were temporarily suspending their parcel shipments to the US.
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The last day to post parcels from Austria to the US is Monday August 25th.
The US legislative change will take effect on August 29th and will affect international postal services as well as online retailers.