Australia Post halts transit shipping to US as 'chaotic' tariff deadline looms

Summary

Australia Post is suspending some forms of shipping to the United States as a Trump administration tariff deadline creates "chaos" for postal networks and retailers globally.The development means goods from other countries will no longer be able to be shipped to the US via Australia, a method known as "transit" shipping."In line with a number of other postal operators, Australia Post has temporarily suspended its transit service to the US and will no longer accept transit items containing goods destined for the United States of America," an Australia Post spokesperson said.Australia Post's suspension comes as low-value goods imported into the US face additional tariffs from next week.Until now, parcels of goods from Australia worth less than $US800 ($1,200) were not taxed when they arrived in the US, under what was known as the "de minimis" exemption.The tax exemption is due to end on August 29 for imports from all countries globally, with parcels to be slugged with tariffs or flat fees.E-commerce business have described confusion and chaos when trying to navigate the tariff changes. (ABC News: Michael Lloyd)'Chaotic' moment for global postal servicesThe decision — formalised in an executive order on July 30 — has caught many postal operators globally off guard.Kate Muth, who leads the US-based trade association, International Mailers Advisory Group (IMAG), said many of its members are confused about how to collect the duties set to come into play from next week."It's a bit chaotic here," she told ABC News from Washington, DC."A lot of uncertainty, a lot of concern about the postal stream being heavily impacted, and just a little over a week to get ready."Australia Post is one of the global postal carriers that has elected to suspend transit mail to the US as it grapples with changes."[Transit mail] is where a postal operator in one country will use the services of another postal operator to send it on to the final destination," Ms Muth explained."For example, maybe...