Starting Friday, Czech Post will halt the acceptance of packages destined for the United States. This decisive action comes in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order eliminating the duty-free regime for shipments valued up to $800 (approximately 16,800 Czech crowns), which takes effect August 29th.
According to Kateřina Cafourková from the postal service’s press department, certain exceptions remain in place. Customers can still send items containing exclusively written communications or documents to the US. Additionally, gifts between individuals valued at no more than $100 (about 2,100 Czech crowns) may continue to be shipped.
Even these permitted shipments will require proper completion of customs declarations, emphasizing accurate content descriptions and true values in US dollars. Despite proper documentation, customs clearance delays may occur when entering the United States, resulting in longer delivery times.
Czech Post representatives note that American authorities have yet to define critical processes regarding customs fee collection, data gathering specifications, and cooperation procedures with US customs officials. Technical details were only published on August 15th, leaving extremely limited time to prepare for data transmission and establish new customs collection systems that must be paid before packages enter American territory.
The restriction begins a week before the executive order takes effect because goods must be customs-cleared with fees paid upon entering US territory. Czech Post cannot guarantee delivery of items submitted after August 22nd. Monthly, Czechs send approximately 20,000 tracked packages and 5,000 kilograms of untracked mail to the United States, with only about 0.004 percent of tracked shipments containing goods valued over $800.