Singapore, Australia and Japan join countries suspending post to US
The United States will abolish a tax exemption on small packages entering the country from Aug 29.
Packages rolling along a conveyor belt as the United States Postal Service prepares them for delivery at the Royal Palm Processing and Distribution Center on Dec 17, 2024 in Opa Locka, Florida. (File photo: AFP/Joe Raedle)
SYDNEY: Australia joined on Tuesday (Aug 26) a string of countries suspending some postal deliveries to the United States, in response to a "complex and rapidly evolving situation" with US President Donald Trump's looming tariffs.
Australia Post said most goods being sent to the US and Puerto Rico would no longer be accepted "until further notice".
Gifts with a value of less than US$100 (S$128), letters and documents were exempt from the suspension.
The move came after similar steps were taken by other postal services and mail carriers, including in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, India and New Zealand.
On Aug 19, Singapore Post (SingPost) announced that for shipments to the US, apart from letter mail with no declared value, it would be "suspending the acceptance of items with commercial value" via its standard services with effect from Aug 25. Â
Retail customers must send items with commercial value to the US using Speedpost Express, which SingPost said is "fully equipped" to comply with the latest customs requirements. This is to ensure that all shipments are compliant and to avoid potential issues for customers, it added.
For corporate customers, apart from Speedpost Express, a new service called Speedpost Direct International is available and its account managers will be contacting customers to help them with this service.
Japan also announced that US-bound individual gifts worth more than US$100 and goods for sale would no longer be accepted from Wednesday.
Taiwan said it would stop sending merchandise-type mail to the US from Tuesday.
The Trump administration has said that as of Aug 29, it will abolish a tax exemption on small packages valued at US$800 or below to enter the US duty-free.
Australia Post's executive general manager Gary Starr said the company was focused on providing "a reliable and competitive postal service for customers".
"We are disappointed we have had to take this action. However, due to the complex and rapidly evolving situation, a temporary partial suspension has been necessary to allow us to develop and implement a workable solution for our customers."
