The short version:

Royal Mail has resumed postal services to the USA. I am now obliged to collect and pay the 10% tariff duty that is being levied on US importers for imports from the United Kingdom following the US government decision to scrap the sub-800usd de minimis exemption. This 10% duty is shown at checkout when your address is entered.

The long Version:

As of 29th August 2025, the de minimis sub-800USD personal customs/duty exemption on imports into the US has been removed by the US government.

The US government will impose a levy on US importers (persons and businesses) at the stated tariff rate. For products from the United Kingdom, this is set at 10%.

When goods cross borders, there is often VAT or a duty/customs fee to be paid. For example I pay 20% VAT on products I order from the US and EU. EU, Australian and other customers of mine often have to pay a VAT or customs fee when they import my products. On Ebay, systems exist where EU customers (importers) can pre-pay their VAT at time of purchase. On my website, VAT/duty isn’t pre-paid and the customer (importer) pays the bill supplied to them by their customs authority.

In this case, however, US authorities will not accept parcels into the USA that have not had the duty already paid on them. It is not possible for an importer to simply pay the US customs authority what is owed when the item(s) enter the US. Instead, I am obliged to collect the tax on your behalf which I then pre-pay to the shipping agent, which is then finally passed on to the US customs authority.

Given this is a rather circuitous route to pay tariff duty, I would like to take the opportunity to state that I am not pocketing this 10%. I am charged this when I book the shipping of your parcel.

The optimistic view is that my US customers (both persons and businesses), are ‘only’ subject to 10% tariffs on imports from the United Kingdom. At least by pre-paying the necessary customs fee, there will be no work for you to do, or extra fees to pay, upon import of your item(s).

All the above is to say that I have set my checkout to add this 10% fee at checkout to then pass on to the US government, via Royal Mail, on your behalf.

The best thing I can do is to continue to innovate, research, and offer my products at the best possible value. I hope to continue to have your patronage and support in the future.