Starting tomorrow, the Swiss Post is not accepting packages bound for the US

[quote]The USA is also introducing new customs clearance regulations. These differ greatly from the Universal Postal Union’s previous regulations. Now, all goods to the USA must be shipped with customs duties already paid. The new rules affect all postal companies worldwide and are being introduced at very short notice. Important issues surrounding liability and the implementation of the new rules are still unresolved. For this reason, Swiss Post, like other postal companies, is forced to stop accepting goods consignments to the USA for the time being.

Wow! That's fucking huge!

The UK, too. Mexico and Canada will suffer the most from this rule, originally meant to curb low-quality Chinese shipments.

[quote]While China is a major source of shipments that use the exemption, Canada and Mexico are also significant sources of low-cost parcels being sent to the US.

Its huge that some of those other countries' post offices wont ship, but how many swiss folks desperately need to ship packages by the postal service, and how many Americans are awaiting packages handled by the Swiss post office.

It's astronomically expensive to ship OUT of Switzerland using the Swiss post.

Humbull-braging...

Way to miss the point of this not being a Swiss-only thing. It's a collective action.

Good thing I don’t have to worry.

True dat, R6. It was all over the Australian news this morning. The only exception is package marked "gift" AND worth less than $153 AUD (which is probably about $100 US).

Hasn't that always been the case though, R8? That a package being sent as a gift has to marked gift and under a certain value. Otherwise it's considered a good that has been purchased and in this way is trying to avoid customs fees.

Some years ago a friend in the US thought he was being really helpful by sending me his old laptop from the US to the EU, although I hadn't asked for it, and I had to pay loads in customs to pick it up from the post office.

Obliging the sender to pay the customs duties is not a bad idea and will cut down on cheap Chinese crap that uses the ruse of a small package to avoid customs duties, and I don't mean Trump's tariffs but the tariffs that already exist between, e.g. China and the EU and which are circumvented in this way.

[quote]The US government has decided that the current exemption limit of $800 for goods

$800 is an extremely high amount to be able to send goods without having to pay any customs.

r10 It's cute you think $800 is still an "extremely high" amount of money today.

I buy things off the internet that come from outside the US all the time. Clothes, books, stuff off eBay. I don't think I've ever had to pay customs because I don't make purchases over $800. It's a global economy...I think a lot of people do this, too. Or, used to. No one's going to pay some stupid tariff to get a DVD from the UK or a cute jacket from Japan or an adorable vase from France.

More idiocy from the Trump Administration that will do nobody any good.

A dark day with no end in sight for eldergays who hoped to keep adding pieces to their Limoges tea service