Mexico halts postal, parcel deliveries to US over new customs rule

Mexico City, Aug 28 (IANS) Mexico has announced a temporary suspension of postal and parcel shipments to the United States after Washington moved to impose taxes on all incoming packages, regardless of their value.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month to abolish the de minimis treatment, which has allowed goods worth less than $800 to enter the United States duty-free.

The exemption will end on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Correos de Mexico, the national postal service, said the temporary suspension took effect on Wednesday while new operational procedures are to be defined.

Mexico thus joined countries including India, Germany, Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand that have adopted similar measures.

The Mexican government said it is in talks with US authorities and international postal organisations to establish mechanisms for an orderly resumption of services, aiming to provide certainty for users and avoid delivery delays and disruptions.

On Tuesday, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) announced that 25 member countries have suspended postal shipments to the United States, citing uncertainties linked to planned changes by the US administration to its rules on customs clearance of imports valued less than $800.

As the United Nations specialised agency for the postal sector with 192 member countries, the UPU said in a statement that it is working with US authorities to ensure that details of the new operational requirements are clearly communicated to its members.

The statement also noted that the UPU Director General Masahiko Metoki also conveyed member states' concerns about potential disruptions in a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday.

According to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump, the long-standing "de minimis" exemption rule, which allowed goods worth less $800 to enter duty-free, is to end August 29.

The UPU said it is taking all possible measures to prepare its member countries for the impacts of the new requirements.

--IANS

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