Effective immediately, Australia Post is suspending most parcel deliveries to the US. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Australia Post has immediately suspended most of its parcel postage deliveries to the United States because of tariffs being imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Only letters, cards and documents, as well as gifts in parcels worth less than A$150, will continue to be delivered.
Other global carriers are taking similar action in response to, and ahead of, US tariffs kicking in on Friday (29 August).
The government-owned postal service announced on Tuesday (26 August) that it will “temporarily partially suspend” postal sending to the US and Puerto Rico, effective immediately and until further notice.
In a statement, Australia Post said it had taken the action in response to “recent significant changes” the US Government has made to customs and import tariff rules for parcels sent to the US.
Those changes include the US suspending the de minimis exemption for inbound goods and requiring the pre-payment of tariffs prior to an item’s arrival in the US.
De minimis is a common law principle giving exemption to “trivial matters”.
In relation to the US’s inbound goods, the threshold was previously US$800, but this will no longer be the case.
Australia Post said the temporary suspension will impact Business Contract, MyPost Business and Retail customers sending goods through the postal network.
“Gifts under US$100, letters and documents are unaffected by this change,” its statement said.
“This response is in line with action taken by numerous other postal operators globally.
“Australia Post is working with Zonos, an authorised US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) third-party provider, to offer a solution that will, once launched, allow services to resume for Business Contract and MyPost Business customers.
“These customers will receive communications from Australia Post on what they need to do next to be ready for when this solution goes live.”
Australia Post executive general manager for parcel, post and ecommerce services, Gary Starr, said the organisation is now focused on providing a reliable and competitive postal service for customers sending parcels internationally.
“Guidance from CBP has only recently been issued and, like more than 190 other postal providers, we’ve been working at pace to find a solution,” he said.
“We are disappointed we have had to take this action; however, due to the complex and rapidly evolving situation, a temporary partial suspension has been necessary to allow us to develop and implement a workable solution for our customers.
“Australia Post continues to work with US and Australian authorities and international postal partners to resume postal service to the US as a priority.”
Because Puerto Rico is under US Customs territory, the suspension also applies to it, as it has also been impacted by the tariff changes.
Postal goods sent to the US and Puerto Rico lodged on or after 26 August 2025 will not be accepted by Australia Post until further notice.
Mr Trump has described the shipping of duty-free parcels as a “catastrophic loophole” to “evade tariffs”.
He said it also allowed for “deadly synthetic opioids as well as other unsafe or below-market products that harm American workers and businesses” to be funnelled into the US.
“The de minimis exemption has been abused, with shippers sending illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, precursors, and paraphernalia into the United States in reliance on the lower security measures applied to de minimis shipments, killing Americans,” his order read.
The Federal Opposition has described the US‘s latest move and Australia Post’s response to it as “deeply worrying”.
Shadow small business minister Tim Wilson questioned the strength of the Federal Government’s relationship with the Trump Administration.
“It’s deeply worrying that we’ve seen yet again another tariff measure against Australia,” Mr Wilson said.
“It raises serious questions ultimately about the claims that the Albanese government has the relationship between Australia and the United States sorted.
“Small businesses will be the ones who pay the price for a tariff on declines in the volumes of small packages going through to the United States.”
Business law expert at Monash University, Nicola Charwat, said Americans will feel the most pain from the postal suspensions.
“The impact in Australia will primarily be felt by small businesses that sell directly to American consumers,” Dr Charwat said.
“This includes businesses specialising in sustainable clothing and gifts, as well as distinctly Australian goods such as cosmetics, food and wine.
“These parcels will now be subject to a 10 per cent baseline tariff.
“The real target appears to be major overseas retailers like Shein and Temu that also export directly to consumers and avoid much higher baseline tariffs of 25 per cent or more that apply to Chinese imports.
“American consumers are the real losers, facing either restricted access to overseas goods from online businesses or substantially higher prices to cover the tariffs.
“This is unlikely to play well to American voters who may also find that parcels from friends and family overseas will be impacted.”
