September 16, 2025
DHAKA – Bangladesh’s postal directorate has suspended parcel services to the United States for more than two weeks because of tariff-related complications after the Trump administration scrapped tax exemptions on small packages entering the American market.
The suspension began on August 28, the final day of the exemption granted by US authorities to small packages under the “de minimis” rule, introduced in 1938.
From August 29, imports worth $800 or less have been subject to tariffs, with tighter customs checks in place.
The change has left thousands of small businesses and families struggling to send packages to America, as costs have become prohibitive, according to reports by global media outlets, including AFP and the BBC.
In Bangladesh, online sellers and small entrepreneurs who depend on the postal system to reach diaspora markets, especially Bangladeshi communities in the US, have been hardest hit.
“Since the first of this month, every parcel I tried to send was rejected. They keep telling me parcels to the US are not being accepted anymore. Now I cannot face my regular customers,” said Da Ching, owner of Finery, an online craft house in Mirpur area of Dhaka.
She regularly shipped handmade items to clients in the US.
Bangladesh is not alone. Global postal parcel traffic to the US plummeted by 81 percent on August 29 compared with a week earlier, following the end of the exemption, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) said recently, reports AFP.
At least 88 countries, including Bangladesh, have either suspended or sharply reduced their services.
Officials in Dhaka said the new customs regime has made it impossible to continue dispatches to the US. Bangladesh sends a good number of parcels to America, but postal officials could not provide exact figures.
An official at Dhaka General Post Office (GPO) said nearly 150 parcels are sent abroad daily, one-third of them to the US.
During a visit, no queues of senders were found at the GPO’s international parcel packaging section.
An official attributed the reduced crowd to the suspension of US-bound parcels but declined to elaborate.
Tarek Aziz, a clothing trader in old Dhaka’s Islampur area, said he had to cancel several overseas orders after failing to send sarees and salwar kameez to expatriate clients.
“Sending through private couriers costs almost three times more. At this rate, not only is profit impossible, it is difficult just to keep the business alive,” he said.
Families are also feeling the pinch.
Proloy Kumar Dey from Panthapath area of the capital, whose son is studying in the US, used to send winter clothes, dried food and books through the post office.
“Private couriers are so expensive that it is beyond my means. The postal service was our only affordable option,” he said.
Parveen Banu, additional director general (postal service) of the Directorate of Posts, said, “We are in talks with the US authorities. I hope the discussion will be fruitful. Then we will resume parcel services.”
While GPO shipments to the US remain suspended, international courier services such as DHL and FedEx continue to operate at far higher costs.
Dipankar Roy, a regular GPO customer, said a two-kilogram parcel that previously cost Tk 2,000 to TK 3,000 through the GPO now costs Tk 7,000 to 10,000 via private couriers.
“As a result, we are sending fewer packages to loved ones abroad,” said Roy.
A FedEx official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “If parcels are priced below $100, customers do not have to pay new taxes. But if they exceed that, a 30 percent tax applies. The volume of goods sent has decreased. However, personal shipments to relatives continue without hindrance.”
“Customers are now paying more tax on all shipments than before. The rate of shipping has decreased,” added a DHL official.