Chunghwa Post is to temporarily stop sending packages to the US starting today, as Washington is set to end its tax exemption on items valued at less than US$800.
Following an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on July 30, the US on Friday is to universally stop the de minimis exemption under which packages worth less than US$800 may enter the US duty-free.
As there is no system in place anywhere in the world to collect tax payments from the sender, Chunghwa Post is to temporarily halt shipments of merchandise to the US, it said in a statement yesterday.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
Letters and other types of paper items would not be affected, it said.
Senders could still use third-party services such as DHL or FedEx to ship packages to the US, the postal service said.
The types of packages affected include anything that has commercial value, such as items purchased on e-commerce sites or gifts to be sent to friends and family.
Most items sent to the US fall under the de minimis rule, and any additional taxes incurred are paid by the recipient, Chunghwa’s deputy head of mail business and operations Lin Li-fu (林立富) said.
However, the change would require taxes to be paid upon arrival in the US, he said, adding that the timeframe is too short to implement the logistics to make this possible.
As there is currently no standard for collecting tax from the sender, it is impossible to make the change fast enough, he said, adding that Chunghwa is evaluating how to reinstate the service.
Although third-party businesses are still offering shipping services, the pricing would change perhaps by the week and might be more expensive, Lin said.
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