At the end of July, President Trump signed an executive order to end a global tariff exemption for goods shipped to the United States.
From August 29th, the executive order will abolish the exemption limit of USD 800 for goods imported into the USA .
While intended to stop shipments of cheap merchandise from China and other markets, the measure ultimately affects anyone who wants to send goods to friends or relatives in the US.
Therefore, from Tuesday August 26th, the Swiss Post will temporarily stop accepting shipments to the United States.
Other countries in Europe and around the world, including Switzerland's neighbours France and Germany, are taking these measures as well.
Here’s what you should know
“Without this exemption limit, every goods consignment – no matter the size or value – must be declared and cleared with US customs," Swiss Post said in a press release on August 25th.
To complicate matters further, the USA is also introducing new customs clearance rules, which will be different from the Universal Postal Union’s regulations applied previously.
Now, you will have to pre-pay all customs duties before shipping the goods to the US.
This measure affects not only customers in Switzerland, but elsewhere in the world as well.
Nevertheless, “important issues surrounding liability and the implementation of the new rules are still unresolved. For this reason, Swiss Post, like other postal companies, is forced to stop accepting goods consignments to the USA for the time being.”
Swiss Post said also said it decided to implement this measure “in close consultation” with the authorities, as it is government-owned.
What’s next for you?
You will not be able to send packages to the United States for the time being.
However, letters (including official documents and certificates), as well as express items sent via URGENT Express International with FedEx Express Swiss Post GmbH are not affected by the decision to stop accepting US-bound shipments.
It is not yet known how long this suspension will last.
However, “Swiss Post is examining all options to ensure that this suspension can be lifted as soon as possible and that goods consignments can be sent to the USA again,” the company said.
In particular, gift consignments between private individuals up to a value of USD 100 (around 80 francs currently) “should be able to be shipped again as quickly as possible.”
“Swiss Post is also working intensively on other possibilities allowing the sending of goods consignments to the USA outside of the international postal channel,” it said.
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