GENEVA: At least 25 countries have decided to suspend package deliveries to the United States, as concern grows over the impact of President Donald Trump’s looming tariffs, a UN body said on Tuesday.

The Trump administration said late last month that it will abolish a tax exemption on small packages entering the United States from August 29.

The move has sparked a flurry of announcements from postal services, including in France, Britain, Germany, Italy, India, Australia and Japan, that most US-bound packages would no longer be accepted.

The United Nations’ Universal Postal Union said it had already been advised by 25 member countries that their postal operators “have suspended their outbound postal services to the US, citing uncertainties specifically related to transit services”.

Indian exports to US will face 50pc tariffs from today as Trump’s deadline for New Delhi takes effect

It said the suspensions will remain in place until there is more clarity on how US authorities plan to implement the announced measures.

Operational changes

The organisation, which was established in 1874 and counts 192 member states, warned that the new US measures would “entail considerable operational changes for postal operators around the world”.

From Friday, the UPU said the measures would require postal carriers delivering packages to the United States “to collect customs duties from senders in advance”, on behalf of the US Customs and Border Protection agency.

Under the new US measures, individual customers will still be able to send documents and items worth up to $100 as presents to the country without being taxed. But anything above that value is expected to be hit with the same tariff rates applied to other imports from the sending country, which means 15pc for EU states and 50pc tax for India.

And Germany’s postal service DHL warned last week that even exempted items would be subject to extra checks to prevent the service being used for commercial goods.

UPU chief Masahiko Metoki had sent a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday to convey member countries’ concern regarding the operational disruptions, it said.

India readies for punishing US tariffs

Meanwhile, Indian exports to the US will face some of the highest tariffs in the world this week, barring a last-minute reversal from President Trump.

Trump has tied issues of Ukraine war to trade, threatening to slap 50pc duties on New Delhi in retaliation for its continued purchases of Russian oil. He issued a three-week deadline on August 6, which is expected to take effect on Wednesday morning in India.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2025