Japan Post Co. will suspend shipping of some small packages to the United States due to fresh tariffs imposed by the US government, in a sign of how President Donald Trump’s levies may impact smaller businesses and individuals.
The mail service will stop accepting parcels that include consumer goods for sale or gifts worth over $100 from Wednesday, after the U.S. revoked its tariff exemption on lower-value packages from across the world, according to a statement published on its website.
“It is not clear what the appropriate processes for shipping companies and postal services are under the new guidelines, making operation extremely difficult. We will therefore be suspending the acceptance of smaller packages,” the statement said.
U.S. consumers were able to buy cheap goods from abroad under what was called the de minimis exemption, which allowed for smaller packages to be shipped into the U.S. duty-free.
That tariff exemption was revoked on May 2 for China and has now also been repealed for the rest of the world in a presidential order signed July 30 with the purpose of preventing the inflow of illegal drugs such as fentanyl.
Japan Post’s decision falls in line with other national postal services that have temporarily suspended their shipping services to the U.S., including Britain and Australia. For now, Japan Post will continue providing a separate service for deliveries to the U.S. that complies with U.S. customs rules, albeit at significantly higher costs.
A recent survey on commerce website Ebay users found that fashion items, collector goods including trading cards, as well as auto parts were among the Japanese items that sold well in the US, according to a report by Japanese trading organization JETRO.
The same survey showed that more than 80% of respondents were considering entering markets other than the U.S. as a response to American tariff measures.