India has announced that all categories of international postal services to the United States will resume from October 15. The Department of Posts under the Ministry of Communications said the services were temporarily suspended but will now restart after the successful implementation of a new Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) system that complies with updated regulations by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The postal services to the US were earlier suspended on August 22 after the US Administration issued Executive Order 14324. The order withdrew the de minimis treatment for all postal shipments, meaning even small shipments were now subject to customs duties. India Post had to suspend services temporarily to comply with the new rules.

After months of preparation, India Post has set up a mechanism to collect all customs duties in advance under the DDP system. This ensures that duties are paid at the time of booking in India and remitted directly to US authorities. The Ministry stated that this process will make customs clearance faster and deliveries smoother for recipients in the US.

According to the CBP guidelines, customs duty on postal shipments from India to the US will be applied at a flat rate of 50% of the declared Free on Board (FOB) value. Unlike commercial courier shipments, there will be no additional base or product-specific duties on postal items. Importantly, India Post will not charge any extra fees for using the DDP service. Postal tariffs remain the same, keeping international delivery affordable, especially for small businesses, MSMEs, artisans, e-commerce sellers, and exporters.

All types of international mail, including EMS, Air Parcels, Registered Letters, Packets, and Tracked Packets, can now be sent to the US from any Post Office, International Business Centre, Dak Ghar Niryat Kendra, or via India Post’s online self-service portal. The DDP system provides transparency and ease of business, allowing senders to prepay duties and avoid surprise charges or delivery delays for recipients.

The Department of Posts has instructed heads of Postal Circles to conduct outreach programs to inform exporters and small businesses about the resumption of international postal services to the US. The move is expected to support India’s exporters and boost trade by making cross-border postal deliveries smoother and more reliable.