Switzerland to pause all U.S.-bound shipments from August 26 over tariffs

Switzerland will stop shipping parcels to the United States starting August 26, after new U.S. tariff rules stripped a key exemption that had allowed small foreign packages to enter the country duty-free after President Donald Trump’s decision to end the de minimis exception.

That rule, which had allowed shipments worth less than $800 to avoid import taxes, will be scrapped on August 29, according to a statement.

The new U.S. policy targets every country, not just China or Hong Kong, where the restrictions first began. Trump announced last month that packages from anywhere in the world will now be subject to import levies.

Swiss Post responded by pausing all standard parcel services to the U.S., citing legal and logistical problems with the abrupt rollout. “The new rules affect all postal companies worldwide and are being introduced at very short notice,” the agency said in a statement. It added that many issues, especially around liability, haven’t been sorted.

Trump imposes highest tariff rate on Switzerland

Under the new U.S. customs system, importers have two choices. They can pay a percentage tax tied to a new “reciprocal” tariff table, or opt for a flat fee ranging from $80 to $200 per item for the first six months.

For Switzerland, the reciprocal tariff rate was set at 39%, the highest rate assigned to any developed country. That figure was reached after recent trade negotiations between the two countries ended without progress.

Swiss officials pushed back. The government made another offer to Washington in hopes of securing better trade terms, but nothing has changed. The tariff shock landed hard.

Swiss Post said its decision to halt packages is based on “US customs clearance regulations,” which, according to them, “differ greatly from the Universal Postal Union’s previous regulations.” That discrepancy made it impossible to continue parcel shipments under the current setup.

Standard shipments are suspended, but document and express consignments to the U.S. will still go through. These are usually handled with more paperwork and tighter tracking, making them easier to adapt to the new American rules.

Other postal services across Europe, including Austria and Belgium, have also announced suspensions in response to the same requirements. Before the change, the de minimis threshold helped move about 4 million small parcels into the U.S. every day.

These packages were rarely inspected and often landed straight at consumers’ doors without delay. That system is now over. All shipments will go through customs and face taxation, slowing down deliveries and increasing costs.

Switzerland blocks tariff dodging through Liechtenstein

With the 39% tariff in place, some companies tried to find a way around it. One idea floated was to route Swiss goods through Liechtenstein, a small country of about 40,000 people that shares a customs union with Switzerland.

With the new U.S. tariffs, Liechtenstein only has a 15% duty, which is far below the rate Switzerland faces.

Geographically, it looked simple since Liechtenstein sits on Switzerland’s eastern edge, and trucks from there can drive directly into Austria, which is part of the European Union. That made Liechtenstein a tempting channel for re-exporting goods at a cheaper tariff rate. But the Swiss economy ministry quickly shut it down.

“For a product to be considered ‘originating from Liechtenstein,’ it must either be wholly produced in Liechtenstein or have undergone sufficient processing there,” a ministry spokesperson reportedly told Bloomberg in an email. They also explained that “simply re-exporting Swiss products via Liechtenstein or reloading them there does not change their origin, meaning that the higher US duties on Swiss goods apply.”

The U.S. customs office has also signaled that it will be watching for such tactics and will not honor tariff reclassification attempts. That means any company hoping to sidestep the 39% rate by using Liechtenstein is still going to get hit with the full duty if the goods are clearly Swiss.

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