DHL Parcel resumes postal goods shipping from Germany to the USA and Puerto Rico for business customers

This is made possible by the 'Postal Delivered Duty Paid' (PDDP) service, which DHL previously offered only for goods shipping to Norway, the UK, and Switzerland, and will now be extended to the USA. Furthermore, DHL completely overhauled the entire process of data collection, customs reporting, and payment of applicable customs fees in a very short time to comply with the new customs regulations outlined in the U.S. government's Executive Order 'Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for all Countries. 

What changes for business customers

Business customers who wish to send goods valued up to and including $800 via postal service to the USA must now pay attention to three things: 1) Goods valued up to and including $800 have been subject to customs duties since August 29. The duty-free threshold of $100 applies only to private gifts - not to commercial shippers. 2) The booking of the PDDP service is mandatory for postal goods shipping via DHL, where the sender covers all import duties for their recipient customers in advance. 3) They must provide complete and accurate customs data, particularly the customs tariff number and country of origin for each individual item.

The price for the PDDP service to the USA is EUR2 per shipment. Additionally, the fees from the service provider - referred to as the "Qualified Party" - and the customs duties themselves will be passed on to the business customers without any markup. The so-called "ad valorem" method will be used for calculating customs duties. DHL emphasizes that the actual parcel prices to the USA will remain stable. The additional costs incurred by business customers for postal shipping to the USA will be based solely on external factors for which DHL is not responsible and over which it has no control.

The new shipping process does not apply to private customers. Packages from individuals to individuals with a goods value up to $100, declared as "gift," are not affected by the new regulations in the USA. However, these shipments will be monitored even more closely than before to prevent the misuse of private gift shipments for shipping commercial goods. There are also no changes for shipping documents in letters. Shipping goods via DHL Express and the commercial import of goods into the USA under the currently applicable customs rates remains possible.

The new shipping modalities for postal goods shipping from Germany to the USA only affect products under the DHL Parcel brand. Products from other DHL divisions, such as DHL Express or DHL eCommerce, are not impacted.

As of August 29, 2025, new customs regulations in accordance with the Executive Order "Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for all Countries" have come into effect. These regulations include the removal of the previous duty-free threshold for goods valued up to $800. Additionally, new processes required by U.S. authorities for postal shipping are being introduced, which differ from the previously applicable regulations. Due to some unresolved questions, all major postal companies worldwide, including Deutsche Post/DHL, were forced to temporarily suspend postal goods shipping to the USA.

For more information: dhl.de/us-versand and dhl.de/pddp