The Universal Postal Union (UPU), located in Bern, Switzerland, reported significant disruptions in postal operations following new customs regulations implemented on August 29, 2025. This unpredictable change has led to a shocking 80% decrease in inbound global postal traffic to the United States. As a reason why, every domestic and international shipping lane is impacted.
According to the UPU, airlines and other carriers have indicated their unwillingness or inability to collect duties on U.S.-bound parcels valued at $800 or less. Until now, this value allowed such parcels to escape customs duties. Now, recent regulations have changed the burden of collection for those duties to transportation carriers and eligible affected persons from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Consequently, most foreign postal operators have not built those required connections to meet these regulations.
In response to these operational challenges, 88 postal operators have walked out. They let the UPU know that they’ve stopped delivering some or all postal traffic to the United States. This suspension will continue until an acceptable solution is reached with regard to U.S.-bound parcels.
The UPU emphasized the severity of the situation, stating, “The global network saw postal traffic to the U.S. come to a near-halt after the implementation of the new rules on Aug. 29, 2025, which for the first time placed the burden of customs duty collection and remittance on transportation carriers or U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency-approved qualified parties.”
All of these disruptions greatly impact international shipping. They impose enormous burdens on companies and customers who rely on international commerce. The stopped postal services will almost certainly lead to delivery postponements. Businesses will further be hit by higher shipping costs as they adapt to the new requirements.
The postal and transportation stakeholders whom we’ve heard from want this issue resolved. They need for foreign postal operators and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to work together on developing effective duty collection processes. Today’s nationwide halt to postal service continues indefinitely. This affects millions of parcels headed to the US until new safeguards are put in place.
