The United Nations-based organization representing postal carriers worldwide says it is rolling out a new application to help postal operators calculate and collect duties on exports of small-dollar packages sent to America following a halt in worldwide global postal shipments.

The Universal Postal Union said its new Delivered Duty Paid solution, launched on Friday, will be integrated into its customs declaration platform used by the 176 postal operators around the world that use the system. 

“Solutions to transfer the required data and to remit the amounts to the qualified third party will also be provided, and posts will have at their disposal all the necessary technological tools to keep the mail moving,” the union noted in an announcement Saturday. 

The shipment of small packages to America plunged 81 percent on August 29, the day the Trump administration ended the de minimis tariff exemption, the union reported Saturday. The end to the exemption choked off deliveries by postal carriers in at least 88 countries until uniform rules for calculating and collecting tariffs could be devised. 

“The global network saw postal traffic to the U.S. come to a near-halt after the implementation of the new rules on August 29, 2025, which for the first time placed the burden of customs duty collection and remittance on transportation carriers or U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency-approved qualified parties,” the Bern, Switzerland-based postal union said in a statement.

The mostly defunct de minimis exemption has existed in some form since 1938, but was raised on packages worth $800 or less during the Obama administration. In eliminating the exemption, the Trump administration claimed it had become a loophole for foreign businesses to get around tariffs and for criminals to get drugs into America. The exemption is still permitted for Hong Kong and Communist China, the latter of which President Trump blames for fentanyl trafficking through Mexico. Mexico and Canada are also exempted for now.

In implementing the new tariffs, postal shipment rates were set to be charged at a flat rate based upon the value of the shipped items until February, when the country of origin’s prevailing tariff rate would be imposed. Non-postal shipments — items sent through FedEx and other international shipping services — are subject to the tariff rate of the country of origin, which can range from 10 to 50 percent.

While the change applies to products from virtually every country, residents in America do not have to pay duties on gifts valued at up to $100, or on up to $200 worth of personal souvenirs from trips abroad, the White House said in July.

Concerns have been raised about the economic impact as a result of higher duties on goods imported by small businesses, but a Philadelphia-based technology and financial management services provider for small and medium-sized businesses, Gene Marks, says that fear is misplaced. 

About 70 percent of America’s 33 million small businesses are service providers — accountants, contractors, freelancers, among others — who don’t buy international goods, he said.

“Yes, prices are going to rise. But as long as people can afford such items they’ll keep buying. That’s what we need to worry about,” writes Mr. Marks. He said that his clients who import goods are looking at diversification, alternate suppliers, bulk purchases, and financing solutions for customers.  

With a 2.7 percent inflation rate at home, “most working people are still making more than what they have to spend,” he notes. “Yes, these tariffs are going to result in increased prices. But as long as income and wealth grow as they have, the economy will probably absorb this.”

On the other hand, says a professor of innovation and technology at IE Business School in Spain, Enrique Dans, efforts by President Trump to prop up American manufacturers by eliminating the de minimis exemption is making the free market less nimble.

“The only thing that eliminating the ‘de minimis’ exemptions does is to complicate everything for everyone, whether they do it well, badly or regularly. What remains behind the equation is not a strengthened U.S. industry, but a bonfire that consumes economic value, purchasing power, and trust in the system,” Mr. Dans writes.

While carrier unions like the Universal Postal Union and PostEurop complained last month they did not have enough time to comply with the new procedures outlined in the July 30 executive order, Britain’s Royal Mail has been collecting duties since August 29, the day the exemption ended. By time of publication, it had not replied to a query from the Sun about whether shipments have dropped or how much money it has collected in tariffs.