The new “minimis” rate rules end us with many parcel shipments: NPR

Many European parcel companies – including DHL, the Royal Mail and the national French and Spanish national post offices – temporarily suspended shipments in the United States, citing new American pricing policies that are starting this week.

And although the financial costs of the prices have dominated the commercial news this summer, in this case, it is not so much money as the paperwork It is a stumbling block.

A executive decree President Trump will end the “minimis” rule, which allowed individual packages worth $ 800 to enter US franchise, in force on August 29. The “minimis” rule (sometimes called escape) had already been eliminated for China and Hong KongBut is now suspended for all countries.

The letters are not affected by the new rules. In addition, gifts worth $ 100 (and sent between individuals, and not in a company) are exempt and can always be sent. But companies’ packages will be considerably affected. Like NPR A previously reportedMost packages shipped to the United States are currently eligible for “minimis” exemption.

The abolition of the exemption increases the costs of imported goods. But that is not why post offices and parcel companies take a break from certain expeditions – they rather cited ambiguous policies and the need to establish new logistics systems.

“Key questions remain unresolved,” wrote the DHL group in a press release, “in particular concerning the way and the customs functions that will be obtained in the future, what additional data will be necessary and how the transmission of customs to customs and the protection of American borders will be carried out.

Consequently, said DHL Group, he suspended commercial expeditions to the United States via Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany. The most expensive DHL Express service will remain an option.

DHL had no estimate of the duration of the break, but said that the objective “is to resume postal goods during shipping in the United States as quickly as possible”.

The French postal service La Poste is also suspend goods of goods in the United Statestell France24 that European postal services have received “an extremely limited period” to prepare the new rules, and that policies require “additional clarification”. The Postal Service of Spanish Correos also suspends the shipments of goods for the moment, claiming that new policies and their short period of time for implementation have a “significant impact” on international postal logistics.

The Royal Mail, on the other hand, predicted only a brief disruption of 1 to 2 days when it establishes new services This will calculate and charge companies for prices.

In an information sheet published last month, the White House called the “De Minmis” a “catastrophic escape” and a “large scam”, arguing that it not only reduces pricing income but allows the import of illicit drugs, because the goods “of minimis” also obtain an accelerated treatment, which means less monitoring of goods.

There is bipartite care to restrict or eliminate the expeditions of “minimis”. Biden administration had also raised concern On drugs and dangerous products that slip into the country. Some American companies have also argued that it gave an unfair advantage to foreign manufacturers on American companies by allowing an easy way to get around the prices.

Driver franchise expeditions have defenders. The Cato Institute, a libertarian reflection group, has supported That the elimination of minimis expeditions would mostly harm the poorest Americans and – predict the headaches that logistics companies meet this week – would be “an administrative nightmare”.