Updated 3.18pm
MaltaPost is temporarily suspending all parcel and goods shipments to the US from Saturday August 23 after the sudden announcement of a US government executive order lifting the duty free threshold for all international shipments.
In a statement on Friday, MaltaPost said any final parcels and goods addressed to the US must be deposited at its head office in Marsa between 7am and 10am on Saturday.
Contacted by Times of Malta, Antoinette Camilleri, the head of MaltaPost’s corporate office, said that while the company could not disclose the volume of post normally sent to the US, the country was one of the top destinations for mail from Malta.
Letters or documents for the US are no longer to be deposited in the street post boxes as MaltaPost will be offering a special document/letter express service to the US through its express international service which can only be purchased through a post office.
The executive order was issued by US president Donald Trump on August 15 and will come into effect on August 29. It eliminates the existing duty-free threshold for international postal shipments.
Under the new policy, all postal items sent to the US, regardless of value or origin, will be subject to customs duties.
This change affects individuals and businesses globally, including Maltese customers.
Partners cargo carriers and airlines have informed MaltaPost they are also suspending the carriage of postal shipments destined for the US “until a workable process is put in place”.
“The suspension is a temporary and necessary measure to allow for the development, testing, and implementation of new cross-border technical and airline carrier solutions to comply with the new U.S. requirements,” MaltaPost said.
They added that postal operators across Europe are “working together to meet these obligations as quickly as possible.”
However, they conceded that “several key implementation details remain unclear” including how US customs imposed duties will be collected and how data must be submitted.
“Limited technical guidance was only issued by US Customs and Border Protection on August 15, leaving insufficient time for full implementation by the imposed deadline,” MaltaPost said.