Dive Brief:
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection has added 10 more providers to the list of qualified parties able to collect and remit duties for international postal shipments entering the country, according to an Aug. 28 agency announcement.
- Flexport, BoxC and North American eCommerce Solutions are among the logistics and customs clearance providers that joined previous members Zonos and SafePackage on the list.
- "Our platform is ready, and we are here to make your transition effortless by taking on the full responsibility of calculating, filing, and paying duties on your behalf," BoxC announced on LinkedIn.
Dive Insight:
The additional parties provide more options for international mail carriers looking to comply with U.S. customs rules following the Trump administration's elimination of the de minimis exemption, which took effect last week. The rule change resulted in postal packages being assessed either a duty equal to International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs or an $80 to $200 fee based on the IEEPA rate.
Mail carriers are allowed to collect the duties themselves, but many struggled to adjust to the new processes before the exemption's end. In response, several postal operators temporarily suspended U.S.-bound shipments that would be affected by the new process.
Some carriers, including Australia Post and Ukraine's Ukrposhta, found a solution by using qualified parties like customs compliance provider Zonos to help develop a duty collection process. Ukrphosta said on Monday that more than 4,000 Ukraine-to-U.S. parcels have passed customs clearance under the new rules.
"Ukrposhta worked on this with Royal Mail, An Post, Australia Post, and Canada Post," the postal provider said in a LinkedIn post.
Meanwhile, after initially suspending some U.S.-bound postal shipments, the U.K.'s Royal Mail launched a delivery duty paid service to comply with the new U.S. rules. The carrier said it functions similarly to its existing services for European Union destinations, per its website. Royal Mail will add a 50 handling pence to cover clearance costs for each parcel subject to the new duties.
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