From July 1, 2026, the EU abolishes the €150 duty-free threshold for incoming parcels, replacing it with a €3 flat customs charge per consignment. PostEurop, the association representing 52 postal operators across Europe, has called for a 6 to 12 month delay, citing infrastructure readiness concerns. No ruling on the delay has been confirmed. At the same time, the US Federal Register confirmed on April 9, 2026 that the US de minimis suspension for all countries continues, with no reinstatement in sight. Both relief mechanisms are being removed in the same quarter, so brands shipping DTC between the US and EU face structurally higher costs from July 1 regardless of the PostEurop outcome.

The PostEurop delay request is a lobbying position, not a regulatory suspension. Postal operators across Europe are concerned that IOSS infrastructure and customs declaration capacity will not scale fast enough to handle the volume of small parcel declarations required from July 1. The concern is legitimate, because the €3 duty applies to every parcel, so operators must file a declaration for shipments that previously cleared automatically. But the request has not produced any formal Commission action as of publication. Brands planning Q3 fulfillment from US warehouses should not build their logistics model around a delay that has not been confirmed.

The US dimension makes the picture structurally more significant. A Federal Register order published April 9, 2026 confirms the continued suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries, effective from February 24, 2026. The US suspension and the EU threshold removal are running at the same time, so brands that previously used low-value parcel exemptions in either direction now face a new cost reality on both legs of any US-EU shipment. For health supplement brands sending samples to EU distributors, or EU-purchased stock returning to the US, the duty picture has changed in both directions at once.

• EU €150 de minimis threshold removed from July 1, 2026, replaced by a €3 flat customs duty per parcel, per consignment
• PostEurop called for a 6 to 12 month delay on May 8, 2026 citing postal infrastructure readiness, with no formal Commission response or delay confirmed at publication
• US de minimis suspension confirmed in the US Federal Register on April 9, 2026, applying to all countries, with no reinstatement in sight
• Both mechanisms are removed in Q2 to Q3 2026, so DTC brands shipping between the US and EU face structurally higher costs on both legs from this quarter
• Brands operating from EU-local warehouses are not affected by per-parcel EU customs charges on consumer shipments, because customs is paid once on the bulk inbound from the US

The PostEurop request may yet produce a formal Commission response, but planning for July 1 as a firm date is the only defensible commercial position. Expandly's EU fulfillment model positions brands with Netherlands-based stock, removing the per-consumer-parcel customs charge on EU orders by shifting customs to the bulk inbound shipment. The €3 duty per parcel becomes a one-time inbound cost rather than a recurring per-order expense.