DHL stops shipping packages over $800 to U.S. customers : NPR

The worldwide transport firm DHL says it is going to cease transport packages over $800 in worth to U.S. customers in response to new, extra stringent U.S. customs guidelines.

The service cited the ten% tariffs carried out by the Trump administration in early April, which it says had the impact of subjecting parcels price over $800 to elevated scrutiny by U.S. customs inspectors. That has led to transport backlogs, DHL mentioned.

“This transformation has induced a surge in formal customs clearances, which we’re dealing with across the clock,” DHL said in a statement. “Whereas we’re working diligently to scale up and handle this improve, shipments over USD 800—no matter origin—could expertise multi-day delays.”

When requested for remark by NPR, a U.S. Customs and Border Safety spokesperson didn’t instantly deal with DHL’s announcement and supplied basic details about customs duties.

CBP says in a post on its web site that so-called formal entry of packages to the U.S. can require shippers to finish “in depth paperwork” and file a CBP bond, whereas casual entry is “much less arduous a course of” wherein the company does the paperwork and calculates the duties to be paid.

DHL mentioned its new momentary coverage, which took impact on Monday, would apply to packages of over $800 despatched from any international nation to U.S. customers.

The corporate mentioned it is going to proceed to ship business-to-business packages valued over $800 to U.S. firms, however these shipments could face delays.

Modifications to U.S. customs guidelines come as a part of President Trump’s effort to overtake the federal government’s international commerce coverage, together with by closing a loophole referred to as the de minimis exemption, which permits items below a sure worth to enter the U.S. with out being charged import charges or going through rigorous inspections.

In early April, the Trump administration moved to end the de minimis exemption for merchandise coming from China and Hong Kong. That change, which matches into impact on Might 2, is anticipated to have an particularly important affect on e-commerce retailers that ship low-cost items to the U.S., reminiscent of Shein and Temu.

In line with a report released this year by the Congressional Analysis Service, the variety of de minimis entries to the U.S. jumped from 153 million in 2015 to greater than 1 billion in 2023. Presently, de minimis shipments account for 92% of all cargo coming into the U.S., the CBP says.