Royal Mail are planning to withdraw their existing USA export services today, Tuesday 26th August 2025. The company recommends customers do not send items using existing services from this date, to allow enough time for them to reach US customs before the new import requirements become effective on Friday 29th August 2025.
From the 29th of August, the ‘de minimis’ of $800 which allowed low-value goods and gifts to enter the USA from other countries ‘duty-free’ will be removed and replaced by tariffs. This means if you send goods to the USA and complete a customs declaration, there are likely to be duties required for the goods you send. The shipper is responsible for paying those duties and taxes.
For goods shipped via the international postal system customs duties will be calculated in a simple way, using the value of the item/s you’re sending and the prevailing country-based tariff for the item/s depending on their country of origin (that’s country of manufacture, not shipping).
Royal Mail will have new USA export services – Postal Delivered Duties Paid (PDDP) – which works similarly to their existing PDDP services to EU destinations and uses the same product codes. Customers will be able to choose from Tracked, Tracked and Signed and Standard service options, just as they do now.
There will also be a 50p per parcel handling charge, to cover the additional costs associated with providing clearance services into the USA. This will be invoiced as a handling fee, in addition to postage costs
Royal Mail are planning a short period (1-2 days) between the withdrawal of existing services and new PDDP services being available to allow them to process and ship all items sent using existing services into the USA before 29th August. They expect the new USA PDDP account services to be available for customers on Royal Mail shipping solutions from Thursday 28th August 2025.
One Response
Whatever extra charges Royal Mail can pile on, they will. From IPROL unreadable barcodes and labels to Green Taxes and Fuel surcharges.