Government

Postal groups cite customs compliance issues in US shipment suspensions

By Greg Knowler

“ Decarbonization has a cost. I’ ll keep repeating that. It’ s not for free, similar to any IMO regulation,” he said, emphasizing that the process was designed to be as“ fit for purpose” as possible.

While no universal carbon levy was agreed to at the contentious MEPC meeting in April, if the framework is adopted, shipping’ s global carbon emissions will carry progressively increasing charges for the first time starting from 2027.

A potential‘ wildcard’

The fuel standard and carbon pricing mechanism are regarded as essential to support the development and scale-up of a new generation of carbon-free marine fuels, which remain significantly more expensive than traditional fossil fuels.

Dominguez acknowledged industry concerns about the framework and noted that even if the proposal is adopted, there will still be considerable work involved to develop the guidelines for implementation in 2027.

Industry concerns were expressed in dramatic fashion when the US delegation walked out of the MEPC meeting in April in protest over the decarbonization talks. The vote that ended the meeting saw 63 nations voting for the proposal, 16 against and 25 abstentions.

The US opposition to the net-zero framework has been gathering some industry support. Christopher Wiernicki, the chairman and CEO of Texas-based classification society American Bureau of Shipping( ABS), said shipping and the IMO are on different trajectories.

“ There is no clear pathway for green fuel availability and scalability and infrastructure support,” Wiernicki said during a LISW event.

“ LNG and biofuels are mission critical to any success and should not be overlooked, over penalized or discarded in the net-zero regulation,” he added.“ Quite frankly, achieving netzero for shipping by 2050 looks like a wildcard.”

email: greg. knowler @ spglobal. com email carly. fields @ spglobal. com

www. joc. com

The suspension of mail shipments to the US has gone global, with postal organizations around the world citing their inability to comply with the tight“ de minimis” elimination timeline provided by US Customs and Border Protection( CBP) ahead of the Aug. 29 implementation date.

Asia-Pacific postal organizations— including Japan Post, Australia Post and Taiwan’ s Chunghwa Post— joined their EU counterparts in suspending parcel shipments through postal networks to the US Postal Service( USPS) as they work through compliance issues.

“ The US de minimis elimination is causing global logistical disruptions, with postal suspensions reflecting unresolved operational challenges,” Dmitry Kulish, director of air cargo / Asia-Pacific for air freight logistics provider ACN Group, told the Journal of Commerce.

“ Until systems are updated, postal halts will likely persist.”

“ Asian and European shippers alike are seeking clarity from CBP, but until systems are updated, postal halts will likely persist,” Kulish warned.

President Donald Trump’ s executive order—“ Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries”— requires duties to be paid to US customs on all imported goods, regardless of their country of origin.

However, technical details of the new rules were only released on Aug. 15, leaving just two weeks for the world’ s postal companies to prepare for a comprehensive change in customs requirements. With no clear definition of what duty and data processes were required by CBP, most shipments via post to the US were suspended until further notice.

Since the end of August, services have gradually been resuming as postal operators such as DHL and the UK’ s Royal Mail implement systems to comply with the new rules and process required tariffs.

Previously, low-value goods and gifts could be imported into the US duty-free from other countries due to a de minimis customs threshold of $ 800. Since Aug. 29, all imports, except letters and documents with no value and purely private shipments of gifts with a value under $ 100, face duties.

October 6, 2025 | Journal of Commerce 27