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/usabusinessupdates
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. Whilst we recommend customers understand the duties applicable to their items, actual duties will be calculated by our partner before entry into US customs. Royal Mail will use this information to invoice customers for the duties we have paid on your behalf.
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 payment of the required duties to the US authorities, enabling items to pass through US customs. We will use this information to invoice customers for the duties we have paid on your behalf.
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.
Do I need to provide any new information/fill in new fields?
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, HS code, country of origin and value as this determines the duty calculation.
In addition, there are the following required fields:
- The recipient email address and mobile phone number fields are mandatory for PDDP services. If you do not capture this information from your customers or are unable to provide this, you can opt to enter your own/sender email/mobile phone number.
- The customs duty costs field is also mandatory for PDDP services. You can enter the customs duties you have calculated if you use a landed cost calculator or other means to calculate duties yourself. If not, you can enter any number in this field as it is not currently used for the calculation and payment of duties.
Why can’t I currently access USA PDDP large letter services?
We have been working hard with the relevant US authorities and our international partners to adapt our many USA services and supporting systems in a very short timeframe. If you’re sending goods, whilst you can still send large letter format items, temporarily, account customers will need to use USA PDDP parcel services for sending those items. We are in the process of developing large letter services which comply with the new US customs requirements and will make these available to account customers as quickly as we can.
Do I need to provide a commercial invoice?
No, this is not a mandatory field and a commercial invoice is not required.
More information: www.royalmail.com/usabusinessupdates