Royal Mail will temporarily stop accepting parcels bound for the U.S. to minimise disruption ahead of the abolition of the de minimis rule on August 29th.

Shipments will be suspended from today (Tuesday 26th August) until the launch of a new Royal Mail service this Thursday (28th August), which will incur an additional fee.

The de minimis exemption, which allowed small packages valued at $800 or less to enter the U.S. duty free, will be removed from this Friday meaning shippers must pay new duties.

Royal Mail said it would stop accepting parcels due to concerns that those sent on Tuesday would not have enough time to reach U.S. customs before the new rules come into effect.

While pricing for the new U.S. package shipping service will stay the same, Royal Mail will add a 50p handing charge to cover clearance costs into the U.S. – invoiced as a handling fee in addition to postage costs.

European operators including France’s La Poste, Germany’s Deutsche Post, Spain’s Correos, Poste Italiane and the Belgian, Swedish and Danish postal services, also stopped most U.S.-bound shipments over the weekend, according to the Guardian.

U.S. Customs figures revealed 1.4billion packages, containing goods worth $64.6billion (£4.8billion), entered the U.S. last year under the de minimis exemption according to The Telegraph.

Consumers will still be able to send gifts worth less than $100 to the U.S., although postal operators have warned that packages will be subjected to extra checks to ensure parcels don’t contain commercial goods.

Joint research from ESW and Retail Economics highlighted that 76% of UK exporters are now actively diversifying beyond the U.S., historically the UK’s largest non-EU retail market. However, 71% of small British retailers say they have no plans in place to mitigate against sudden trade-policy changes.