Postal traffic to US still down 70% five weeks after duties exemption on low-value packages ended

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Postal traffic is to the U.S. is still down about 70% five weeks after the end of the “de minimis” exemption that spared low-value packages from duties and packages, the United Nations postal agency said Friday.

Confusion has reigned since the U.S. ended the tariff exemption for packages worth less than $800 on Aug. 29. In September, the Universal Postal Union reported 88 of its 192 member countries had suspended all or some of its postal services to the U.S. to have time to adjust their shipping procedures.

On Friday, the UPU said “only a handful” of those had resumed operations to the U.S.

The organization said traffic to the U.S. on Oct. 3 was down 70.7% compared with volume one week before the regulatory changes. On Aug. 29, when the exemption ended, volume plummeted 81% from a week earlier.

Bern, Switzerland-based UPU said it is rolling out technology that will help members calculate, collect and remit required duties to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection through the UPU’s Customs Declaration System.

“Postal services are essential services," said Lati Matata, Director of the UPU’s Postal Technology Centre, in a statement. The technology, an application programming interface, or API, will allow "every postal operator in (UPU's) network – no matter how big or small – to meet customs requirements to ensure that citizens worldwide, including U.S citizens, receive their postal items,” Matata said.

Since the exemption ended, purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs now require vetting and are subject to their origin country’s applicable tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.

While the change applies to the products of every country, U.S. residents will not have to pay duties on incoming gifts valued at up to $100, or on up to $200 worth of personal souvenirs from trips abroad, according to the White House.