Consumers must now pay nearly twice as much to send small parcels to the US, after Chunghwa Post yesterday suspended acceptance and delivery of such shipments in response to changes in US tariff policy.
Starting on Friday, the US would eliminate the de minimis exemption that had allowed goods valued at US$800 or less to enter duty-free. From then on, tariffs would apply to all imported goods, regardless of value.
As the global postal system does not yet support prepayment of tariffs, international postal operators — including Chunghwa Post — have halted small-parcel shipments to the US.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
Those in Taiwan who still need to send packages can do so via express carriers such as FedEx and DHL, Chunghwa Post said.
The state-run postal service charges NT$1,310 (US$43) for parcels of 1.5kg or less, compared with NT$2,499 at DHL and NT$3,958 at FedEx. These rates exclude tariffs, which depend on the declared value of the goods.
“It [suspending shipment of parcels to the US] is a decision that has to be made,” said Ke Ching-chang (柯清長), the postal firm’s Department of Mail Business and Operations director.
The US had initially expected parcel carriers to collect tariffs on its behalf, but in practice this has proven difficult, he said.
Chunghwa Post is not alone. Hong Kong suspended parcel shipments to the US in April, while Japan Post and India Post followed suit last week and this week respectively, Ko said.
Of all mail and packages handled by Chunghwa Post, only about 1 percent is international, although such shipments generate about 10 percent of total postal revenue, Ko said.
Last year, the postal service delivered 340,000 items to the US, making up 14 percent of all international mail and packages and 24 percent of revenue from international services, he said.
About 97 percent of those parcels contained goods valued at US$800 or less, he added.
Suspending deliveries of the parcels to the US could cause the state-run postal firm to lose NT$365 million in annual revenue, Ko said.
Most parcels sent to the US contained personal items and daily necessities, along with product samples and goods shipped by small and medium-sized e-commerce platforms, Ko added.
The company cannot provide a timeline for when US parcel deliveries might resume, he said.
“We would follow the International Postal Corp in establishing a mechanism to collect US tariffs in Taiwan,” he said. “We would first communicate with international express delivery couriers as well as with Customs Administration officials. So far, we can only plan ahead and pursue possible solutions. We cannot offer any specific timeline.”
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