U.S. president Donald Trump’s unclear tariff policies prompt indefinite suspension of services.

Let’s imagine a scenario: You’re living in Japan, but you’ve got a friend or relative in the U.S. whose birthday is coming up. Since they’re a big Pokémon fan, you decide to send them one of those beautiful Pikachu lacquerware bowls we looked at just a couple of weeks ago. Or, alternatively, you’re the outside-Japan Pokémon, fan, and you’ve got a buddy or relative in Japan who wants to send you the bowl as a present.

Either way, it seems like a doable plan, right? Just buy the bowl, take it to the post office, and mail it to the States, right? Except, as of today, Japan Post, as the Japanese post office network is called, will refuse to accept the package.

This isn’t because Japan Post is run by hard-core Digimon fans who resent Pokémon’s greater fame and popularity. Instead of the monsters Agumon or Pikachu, its U.S. president Donald Trump who’s created this situation by, in late July, issuing  presidential order with the title of “Termination of De Minimis Treatment for All Countries.”

“De minimis treatment” refers not to miniaturizing manga, but to an exemption from tariffs for small-value packages of items being imported into the U.S. With de minimis treatment ending on August 27, transport operators, such as Japan Post, must submit customs declarations and pay customs deposits to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

At the very least, this will add cost, complexity, and time to the shipping process, but there’s another problem. While the U.S. government is now requiring Japan Post (and other shipping operators) to file the paperwork and pay the deposits, they haven’t sufficiently explained the process to do so. According to Japan Post, “The procedures that transport operators and postal operators in each country must follow to comply with these guidelines are not clear, however, making implementation difficult.”

▼ Just tossing some bills in the box with a note that says “We good?” doesn’t count as proper compliance, apparently.

Because of that, as of August 27, Japan Post will no longer be accepting parcels to be mailed to the U.S. that contain “goods intended for sale or consumption.” In addition, even parcels containing personal gifts will be rejected if the contents have a cumulative value exceeding US$100.

The sliver of a silver lining to this situation is that the limit is set in U.S. dollars, and with the yen continuing to be weak 100 bucks goes farther than it used to, converting to a little under 15,000 yen these days. Still, it’s pretty easy to cross that line if you’re sending something moderately fancy, like a lacquerware bowl, or maybe sending gifts for a few different people or occasions in the same box.

Though Japan Post says this will be a “temporary” policy, it also says that there is currently no time frame for when it will resume accepting such packages for shipment to the U.S. In the meantime, it is referring customers to its UGX international courier service.

Source: Jiji, NHK News Web, Japan Post
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