The requirements for shipping goods and gifts to the USA have changed. From 29th August 2025, new customs requirements mean almost all goods and gifts are subject to import duties (tariffs).
For information about these changes please visit: www.royalmail.com/usapersonalupdates
Royal Mail has new Postal Delivery Duties Paid (PDDP) services, available online, to help you continue to send goods and gifts to the USA.
Below are some Q&As to help with the more common queries we’re getting about accessing and using new PDDP services online.
How are duties calculated?
Royal Mail will provide shipping, calculation and payment of required duties to the US authorities, enabling items to pass through US customs. When you’re buying postage online, you will enter the details about the item/s you’re sending and the duties and fees payable will be displayed prior to checkout.
If you’re running a business sending items to customers in the USA, whilst we recommend you understand duties applicable to your items, actual duties will be calculated and displayed prior to checkout.
What duties apply to items shipped using Royal Mail?
For goods shipped via the international postal system, customs duties will be calculated using the value of the item and the country based (IEEPA) tariff for that item, depending on the country of origin. Country of origin means where an item was manufactured, not where a parcel is being shipped from.
Royal Mail will provide calculation and collection of required duties at the online checkout and payment to the US authorities, enabling items to pass through US customs.
More US Government information about country based (IEEPA) tariffs can be found here.
What if I am sending a parcel with more than one item in it, with different countries of origin?
Customers need to continue to provide information (data) for each item contained in a package.
If packages contain items with different countries of origin, each individual item will incur the country based (IEEPA) tariff for the item, depending on its country of origin. Royal Mail will provide calculation, collection and payment of the required duties to the US authorities, enabling items to pass through US customs.
What data/information do I need to provide now when sending items to the USA?
Most of the information you need for shipping to the USA is the same as it was prior to the requirements changing.
It is particularly important to make sure you’re providing an appropriate item description, country of origin and value as this determines the duty calculation.
In addition, putting information in the recipient email address and mobile phone number fields is mandatory with a postal delivery duty paid (PDDP) service. However, if you do not capture this information from customers or you’re not able to provide this, you can opt to enter your/the sender email address/mobile phone number.
More information: www.royalmail.com/usapersonalupdates