It could be to do with filling in all the paperwork. I suspect it’s getting harder and harder, and some sellers may say yes only to discover what is involved and then pull out.

My own experience earlier this year shipping something to Ireland from New Zealand was harder than it used to be.

Cheers….

Mike

Last Friday I received an e-mail from Canada Post that since the USA has suspended its duty-free "de minimis" threshold of up to US$800 all "postal shipments up to US$800 in value to the U.S. now require duties to be assessed and prepaid before your package crosses the border". If this is not done the item will not be accepted by Canada Post.

So a large onus is on the Seller to prove that the item is Tariff or Duty exempt, but unfortunately it comes down to the discretion of the individual postal clerk. I already have had an item rejected since in the opinion of the clerk it is futile to send an item to the USA unless there is a "Duty Paid" form on the package, whether it is required or not. Chances are that it will not be accepted in the USA and returned to Canada. Very subjective on both sides of the border.

Local hobby dealers in Vancouver are now clearly stating on their websites that in the interim they will no longer send to the USA.

An unfortunate mess!!

I am assuming the same messages are in place for European Postal Authorities and courier companies.

There are many German dealers and Ebay sellers who will not ship outside of the EU, I have encountered many and actually have a problem at the moment with one package stuck in Germany.

Usually it is down to the paperwork that has to be completed, sometimes tax issues or bad experiences but it is what it is.

What I dont understand is; why are you so surprised???
These things change continously lately, so what the vendor thought was fine, probably changed since he checked the last time.
I think I´m with the vendor on this one... -But dont let model railroading hobby come inbetween global and domestic US politics...

Right, and the buyer has to make that up to the seller.

As Trump has insisted it is the other countries who are paying the tariffs, the USPS has attempted to put a system in place with it's Universal Postal Union partners to get those agencies to collect the tariffs, which they are then supposed to forward to the Administration. I don't know if this goes to the IRS or to another agency. I don't know about Zonos, other than it is an Australian company who has offered a tariff collection app which some countries may have adopted as a manner of payment.

In reality, the parcels should be shipped and processed on arrival into the USA and then a collection notice sent to the recipient informing them of tariffs, tax and duties owed on the inbound shipment that must be paid prior to picking up the parcel.


Regards

Mike C

Edited by moderator 08 December 2025 21:52:03(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Am so glad to read all your posts.
I have some aircraft parts (Made In USA) that I wanted to donate to an organisation that I used to be a member during my flying days.

Edited by moderator 08 December 2025 21:51:40(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

From what I have been able to learn, there are a number of parcels which have arrived at US Mail Point of Entry hubs, where the parcels are sitting as uncleared because tariffs have not been paid. As part of Trump cutbacks, there is insufficient staff to handle the collection process, so the parcels sit and may be labelled as abandoned and then disposed of rather than any collection effort being made and the parcels making it into the normal delivery network. This is affecting not only USPS but also UPS, which was reported here: https://www.newsweek.com...kages-heres-why-10875336

The reason cited by UPS was that many of the parcels were missing information for custom clearance under the new regulations (see the article).

The new paperwork required for import (name, address, phone, email) and in some cases, the prepayment of tariffs (or absense thereof) have resulted in a number of postal agencies declining to accept US bound shipments until the situation is clarified and the paperwork updated and many European shippers don't want to deal with all the extra work involved.

Regards

Mike C