On July 1, 2026 twelve EU countries stopped accepting packages through their postal systems.
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain
Since then Spain, Ireland and Italy have re-opened their systems to accept packages.
If you live in one of these European countries and wish to order items from outside the EU that ship through the post office (as our products do), contact your postal leaders and government:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Luxemborg
- Portugal
Background
Before the beginning of this year, the EU negotiated an agreement whereby the 150 Euro de minimis would be abolished and import tax would be collected on ALL packages from outside of Europe. This was in response to the US abolishing the de minimis for imports into the USA.
The European postal systems decided that as of July 1, 2026 that low-value items (up to 150 euros) would have a 3-euro fee attached which would be paid by the importer, i.e. the person or company in Europe receiving the item. Then later, in November, another 5-euro fee would be added on top of that, and finally in 2027 import tax (VAT) would be added based on the value of the item.
Historically, Europeans have had to pay VAT on most items they order from abroad, and that tax is assessed when the package arrives in the destination country. VAT is paid by the receiver (importer) who ordered the item. Couriers do this as well, inasmuch as they transport a package to the destination country and then contact the receiver and collect the import tax from the receiver, and finally release the package to the receiver. Business as usual.
Why are the largest players in Europe still closed?
Only they would know. But, there are some small indicators that suggest they want to go to a Trumpian approach where the sender of the item submits the VAT prior to the package even being accepted by the post office in the sender’s country! This is what Trump imposed for all postal packages INTO the USA, and the details of the implementation are why London Power uses Fedex for shipments into the USA. See our related article regarding Tariffs and the US Customs Office: https://londonpower.com/tariffs-for-us-customers/
The worst thing anyone can do is copy what Trump does. DO NOT spiral downwards to Trump’s level of incompetence and distrust. And in this case, his distortion of the tariff collection process has had a huge negative impact on trade with the US. We implore our European friends to challenge their local postal systems to handle import tax in the same way they have traditionally done. The sensible way. The way that does not impair trade.
To re-iterate: Tariffs are an import tax paid by the receiver. They always have been and they always will be.
Worst Case Outcome
If the EU decides that VAT must be submitted by the sender prior to shipping via the postal system, London Power will be forced to use Fedex for international shipments. This increases the ship cost by two to three times compared to postal rates – although the latter are rising as they have been held artificially low for decades.
