Japan Post, as well as postal services in other countries, have officially announced a temporary suspension of shipments to the United States due to customs and regulatory changes.
While we normally use UPS for lightweight packages, please note that UPS and other carriers may also suspend shipments temporarily, similar to the postal services. We kindly ask for your understanding in advance.
【Temporary Suspension of Acceptance of Mail to the United States Due to Changes in U.S. Customs and Regulations】
(August 25,2025)
On July 30, 2025, the U.S. government issued an executive order titled “Termination of De Minimis Treatment for All Countries” regarding mail to the United States.
Under this executive order, starting August 29, 2025, mail containing goods imported for personal use (taxable mail) will no longer be eligible for duty-free treatment, and tariffs will be imposed.
On August 15, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced new guidelines regarding the elimination of de minimis rules, which require that transport operators pay customs deposits to CBP and prepare customs declarations.
The procedures that transport operators and postal operators in each country must follow to comply with these guidelines are not clear, however, making implementation difficult.
Therefore, starting August 27 (Wed.), in line with other national postal operators, we will temporarily suspend the acceptance of postal items (small packets, parcels, and EMS (goods)) to the United States that contain the following items:
・Individual gifts with a content value exceeding 100 US dollars
・Goods intended for sale for consumption
In addition, we will continue to accept letters, postcards, printed matter, EMS (documents), and postal items (small packets, parcels, and EMS (goods)) containing gifts between individuals with a value of less than US$100.
It is recommended to declare the unit value of the contents in US dollars.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.
【Delay of mail delivery to the Middle East】 (August 1, 2025)
This is an update of our previous notification on July 11, 2025, regarding delay and suspension of mail delivery to the Middle East.
We are pleased to inform you that we have resumed acceptance of international mail items to Iran.
However, please kindly understand that delays will be expected in the delivery of mail sent to the affected countries, due to the continued reduction of flights in the Middle East.
We would therefore appreciate your kind understanding of this situation.
【Partial Termination of International Postal Services】 (June 24, 2025)
Registered small packets and registered items for the blind containing goods will be terminated as of
December 31, 2025. After termination, please use services such as International ePacket Light.
