Italy's national postal service has temporarily suspended the sending of packages to the United States ahead of new tariffs on the import of goods worth less than $800. The move by Poste Italiane coincides with similar measures by other national postal services in Europe, including in France, Germany, Spain and the UK, amid confusion over new import duties.

Last month US president Donald Trump signed an executive order scrapping the long-standing 'de minimis' exemption on tariff duties for low-value packages coming into the United States, with effect from 29 August. A total of 1.36 billion packages entered the US in 2024 under this exemption, according to data from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency.