Quote Originally Posted by Tradd View Post
Here's exactly why many overseas postal services, as well as DHL, have stopped low value parcel shipments (under $800) to the US. Other countries have a low value threshold, maybe as low as $100, on imports before import duties kick in. So these countries are used to collecting duty from the recipients. Not the US!

The US doesn't have a method in place for collecting the duties on low value shipments through the USPS. So they've moved the responsibility for collecting the duties on these small value parcels to the originating countries postal service! The duties would have to be collected before the parcels even shipped out. These postal services have to get a customs bond (basically insurance) to insure they pay the duties timely (all regular importers to the US have to get a customs bond, it's something I have to deal with as part of my job). These foreign postal services don't have any procedures in place to collect these duties, so they've stopped the small value shipments to the US.

I did just get a DHL shipment of a low value parcel shipment yesterday from Europe. I did not pay anything but maybe it was paid by seller, or maybe I got in under the wire.