Last update: 09/23/2025

New customs conditions for postal goods shipping to the United States

On July 30, 2025, the United States published the executive order "Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment For All Countries." According to this order, all goods shipments by business customers that arrive in the US after 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) on August 29, 2025, will be subject to import duties. In addition to the suspension of the existing customs exemption limit of USD 800, this executive order also entails numerous changes to the procedures and provisions for postal goods shipping.

Since the executive order was published, we have worked intensively with our European partners and the US authorities to find a solution that accounts for the newly required processes. Effective September 25, we can once again offer shipping to the United States and Puerto Rico with DHL Paket International.

All requirements for business customers at a glance:

In addition to the existing mandatory elements of the customs content data, further information for order placement and data transmission will have to be observed in the future due to the new customs conditions:

  • Complete and correct customs data for all shipments (particularly specification of the customs tariff number / HS code (at least 6-digit) and the country of origin per goods item)
  • Mandatory booking of the "Postal Delivered Duty Paid" (PDDP) service for shipments with goods valued at or below USD 800

DHL Paket International USA / Puerto Rico

Customs content data per goods item

Goods valued at or below USD 8001

Only with PDDP service

Goods value exceeding USD 800 1

PDDP service not possible2
Description Already required Already required
Customs tariff number (6-,8- or 10-digit) New New

Quantity

 Already required Already required
Weight Already required Already required
Value Already required Already required
Country of origin Already required Already required
  • 1Based on the total goods value excluding shipping costs
  • 2Import duties will continue to be collected from the recipient

Please note that at the present time, data requirements in the customs destinations are constantly changing and further changes for shipping to the United States or other customs destinations can occur at short notice. These requirements could necessitate further adjustments to our and your processes.

Here you can find further information about the Postal Delivered Duty Paid service (Postal DDP / PDDP).

As the now mandatory PDDP service is not implemented for Warenpost International, shipping with this product still is not possible. 

The new shipping modalities for postal goods shipping from Germany to the US pertain only to the products of the DHL Paket brand. Products of other DHL divisions like DHL Express or DHL eCommerce remain unaffected by the new modalities.

Background to the executive order and additional information

On August 29, 2025, a new US customs regulation took effect: the executive order "Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for all Countries." This led to restrictions worldwide on postal goods shipping to the United States – including at Deutsche Post and DHL Paket – and to the suspension of the existing duty-free limit for all commercial imports to the United States.

What shipping restrictions were in place?

  • Effective August 26, 2025, business customers were temporarily unable to ship parcels and Warenpost items to the United States.
  • This was due to new requirements by the US authorities, particularly pertaining to the collection of customs duties, the provision of additional data and the transmission of data to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

What was still possible?

  • Private individuals to private individuals: it was and still is possible to ship gifts with a value of up to USD 100, however, with intensified controls. Further information is available at the US country site.
  • Documents in letters: no changes.
  • DHL Express: shipping to the United States remains possible for private and business customers, using the applicable customs duty rates.

International effects

The changes pertained to all postal and parcel service providers worldwide. Many providers suspended shipping to the United States. The European postal association PostEurop also published information about coordinated measures with the national authorities.

The new rules created by the executive order impact postal and commercial customs clearance differently.

Postal customs clearance:

The shipping and import of postal shipments are handled by national postal companies that have entered into special agreements with the customs authorities and the United States Postal Service (USPS). The postal customs clearance process is generally easier and cheaper because it is based on the "Treaty concerning the formation of a General Postal Union." However, the customs clearance processes for this method have now been amended for commercial shipments and all private consignments with a goods value exceeding USD 100.

Commercial customs clearance:

DHL Express continues to offer the option of commercial customs clearance, although the existing duty-free limit ("de minimis") has been suspended. All shipments cleared through customs on a commercial basis, including those with a goods value of less than USD 100, now require customs clearance. The customs duty rate for goods from Germany or the European Union is expected to amount to 15 percent of the goods value, although certain goods groups could be subject to higher tariffs. This type of customs clearance mainly pertains to the commercial movement of goods and is often implemented by specialized service providers. Commercial shipments are subject to more stringent requirements as pertains to the description, classification and value verification of the goods, and further controls.

When goods are shipped with DHL Express, they are registered by DHL as the customs broker in the United States. Payment of the payable duties takes place according to the "Incoterm" (International Commercial Terms) agreed between the sender and the recipient, which establishes who is responsible for costs and risks during transport and for customs clearance.

Until the executive order took effect, shipments from the European Union were subject to the rule that goods valued at or below USD 800 could be imported to the United States duty-free. Following the changes, all imports apart from purely private shipments containing gifts with a value of less than USD 100 have been dutiable since August 29, 2025. These rules apply for both the United States and Puerto Rico.

The new shipping process is not applicable for private customers. Further information is available at the  US country site (German only).

The customs duties for shipments with PDDP to the United States are calculated by our partners during the customs process using the so-called "ad valorem" method and paid to the US authorities to ensure a smooth customs process. We then issue you an invoice for the customs duties paid in advance. We recommend that you contact the responsible customs authorities or your tax adviser for information about the payable customs duties. 

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The appropriate product and origin data has to be provided for each item in the parcel. If the shipment contains items from different countries of origin, the country-specific customs tariff is calculated separately for each item according to US requirements (e.g. IEEPA). A service provider commissioned by DHL collects and pays the tariffs to the US authorities to ensure smooth customs clearance. The "ad valorem" method and not the so-called "specific duty rate" is applied.

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Taxes are not levied on postal shipments to the United States.

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Due to US regulations, it currently is not possible to reclaim customs duties on goods valued at or under USD 800. 

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The current transit times for international shipments and transit time delays can be found at or Website.  Please note that delivery delays can occur in some cases at the moment.
 

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Exempted from this regulation are private parcels with a value of up to USD 100 that are clearly labeled as a "gift," as well as documents. These shipments undergo strict controls. Shipments with a value exceeding USD 800 are also exempted from the PDDP obligation.

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Most shipping information for shipments to the United States remains unchanged. Of particular importance are an exact description of the item(s), the HS code, the country of origin and the value of the goods – this information is mandatory for calculating the customs duties. Without this information, the shipments cannot be delivered and are returned to the sender.

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If you register a shipment with the PDDP shipping service and the entered goods value exceeds the country-specific maximum limit for PDDP, the shipment will be returned to you and no customs duties are payable.

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If you register a shipment with the PDDP shipping service and the entered goods value exceeds the country-specific maximum limit for PDDP, the shipment will be returned to you and no customs duties are payable.

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As it is possible that the shipment in this case cannot be imported to the United States, we strongly recommend stating the goods value in the currency of the destination country (in this case USD) in order to avoid this risk.

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The current goods value limit for PDDP shipments to the United States is USD 800. To account for exchange rate fluctuations, we have set the goods value limit at EUR 650 for entries in euros. However, we recommend that you enter all customs information in the currency of the destination country if possible because the customs and processing fees are also invoiced by the "qualified party" in the currency of the destination country.

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