Australia Post will stop sending many items to the US indefinitely after recent changes to import tariffs and customs rules imposed by President Donald Trump.
Australia Post announced the extraordinary temporary ban on Tuesday. It is effective immediately.
The government-owned entity’s decision is in response to the US government’s recent imposition of customs and import tariffs on parcels sent to America.
The changes include the US suspending the “de minimis” exemption for inbound goods worth less than $US800 (about $A1200), and requiring pre-payment of tariffs prior to items arriving. It will be halted from Friday (August 29).
The temporary suspension will affect business contracts, MyPost business and retail customers sending goods by post to the US.
Gifts worth less than $US100 (about $A150), letters and documents are unaffected.
Australian businesses are expected to still be able to send parcels to the US through more expensive commercial models such as DHL and FedEx.
Small and medium business owners were figuring out how they could still get their products to American consumers, Shippit CEO Rob Hango-Zada said.
Shippit works with Australia Post and a wide network of carriers to send parcels overseas.
Hango-Zada said the shift to commercial postal services would likely be more expensive, but a necessity if businesses wanted to continue to trade.
Australia Post is not the only postal operator to suspend operations to the US. Postal services in countries such as New Zealand, Norway, South Korea and Italy have also suspended many forms of shipping to the US, as have France’s La Poste, Germany’s Deutsche Post, Spain’s Correos, Poste Italiane and the Belgian, Swedish and Danish postal services.
Austria’s Österreichische Post and the UK’s Royal Mail are expected to stop sending parcels to the US by the end of August.
Australian Post is working with Zonos, an authorised US Customs and Border Protection third-party provider, on a solution for business customers.
Australia Post executive general manager, parcel, post and ecommerce services Gary Starr said a quick solution was being sought.
“We are disappointed we have had to take this action,” he said.
“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.
“Australia Post continues to work with US and Australian authorities and international postal partners to resume postal service to the US as a priority.”
FedEx regional vice president Peter Langley confirmed his company would continue to transport shipments from Australia to the US.
“As an express carrier, our international express offerings are not impacted by the decisions of postal operators,” Langley said on Tuesday.
Communications Minister Anika Wells slammed Trump’s tariffs.
“We don’t agree with the tariffs and we are working closely to try to do everything we can to make sure that the impact of tariffs on Australian businesses are eased as quickly as possible,” she said in parliament.
The temporary partial suspension also includes postal sending to Puerto Rico, which is a US Customs territory and is also affected by the Trump tariffs.
Postal goods sent to the US and Puerto Rico lodged on or after Tuesday will not be accepted by Australia Post until further notice.
It comes just a day after Australia Post announced it would hire 3500 seasonal team members ahead of the busy Christmas period.
Customers seeking an update can check the Australia Post website or call 13 POST (137 678).
-AAP
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