Postal traffic to US drops more than 80% after trade exemption rule ends, UN agency says

Postal traffic to the U.S. has fallen significantly after the Trump administration suspended a trade exemption rule in late August, according to a global postal union.

The U.N.'s Universal Postal Union (UPU) said the global postal network saw postal traffic enroute to the U.S. "come to a near halt" after Aug. 29, 2025, when the "de minimis" trade exemption that allowed small packages worth less than $800 to be exempt from tariffs ended. Data between postal operators shows that traffic dropped 81% on Aug. 29 compared to a week earlier, the union said. The UPU also said it is working on ways to get traffic flowing back to the country.