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After several European countries announced that they were going ahead with the suspension of their postal services to the United States, it was the turn of the Portuguese counterpart, CTT, to follow suit.
In a statement shared on its website, the company indicated that, as of Tuesday 26 August, it would “temporarily suspend the transport of consignments containing goods to the USA in all mail products, universal service parcels and international express parcels”.
The decision follows the discontinuation, by order US president Donald Trump, of the “de minimis” exemption regime, which allowed shipments worth 800 dollars or less to enter the country without being charged customs duties “and without formal entry into customs”. This will no longer be possible from 29 August.
Thus, by decision of the Trump administration, “all shipments destined for the US will now pay customs duties”, with the measure also involving shipments of goods destined for Puerto Rico and the other territories under US administration (such as Guam, American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands).
As a result, all shipments of goods “will now be subject to tariffs and a formal customs procedure”, although there is one exception: “gifts between individuals up to a maximum of 100 dollars”. Shipments containing only documents also also exempt and “are not subject to the payment of customs duties”.
However, according to CTT on the same page, “shipments containing goods to the US can continue to be sent using CTT Expresso’s Premium International product”, which allows shipments of up to 30 kilograms, although the fees “will be borne by the recipients”.
Other European services also suspend shipments
Like Portugal, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands have also announced the temporary suspension, as of this week, of postal shipments to the United States.
Belgium, for its part, already stopped sending parcels to US territory last Friday, while the postal services of Sweden and Denmark also suspended most shipments to the US over the weekend.
With the discontinuation of the “de minimis” exemption regime, all commercial packages destined for the United States will be subject, as of 29 August, to the corresponding tariffs based on the origin and value of the product.
This is expected to have a significant impact on transatlantic e-commerce, as Euronews has already reported, especially for small and medium-sized companies that export low-value products to the US.
The White House said that the aim of this measure was to combat irregular and abusive practices, such as the import of illegal drugs into the United States.
Trump’s announcement comes after the US and the European Union reached an agreement on a new trade deal, putting an end to months of tensions.
