India to suspend postal deliveries to US over tariff confusion

India will temporarily suspend postal deliveries to the United States, the government said Saturday, citing confusion stemming from tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.

The move comes less than a week before the Trump administration’s decision to strip certain low-value parcels of their duty-free treatment goes into effect.

India’s communications ministry said the executive order issued last month requires transport carriers or other “qualified parties” approved by US authorities to collect and remit the tariff duties.

But “several critical processes relating to the designation of ‘qualified parties’ and mechanisms for duty collection and remittance remain undefined,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Consequently, US-bound air carriers have expressed their inability to accept postal consignments after 25th August, 2025, citing lack of operational and technical readiness.”

As a result, India’s department of posts will temporarily suspend bookings of “all types of postal articles” destined for the United States from Monday except letters, documents and gift items of up to $100 in value.

“These exempt categories will continue to be accepted and conveyed to the USA, subject to further clarifications from CBP and USPS,” the ministry said, adding that “every effort is being made to normalise services”.

The move follows similar steps taken by postal services and mail carriers across Europe.

France’s La Poste told AFP it would suspend most package deliveries to the United States from Monday.

It said the new implementation rules were issued by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on August 15, “leaving European postal services with an extremely limited timeframe to get prepared”.

The Trump administration has said that it would abolish a tax exemption on small packages entering the United States from August 29.

AFP

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