If you have an upcoming deadline for a package delivery — even if it’s several weeks away — you may want to consider placing your order as soon as possible.
That’s because in this new age of on-again, off-again tariffs, there’s no saying when your package will be delivered — if at all.
I learned this the hard way.
I was sure a jewelry gift I ordered online on February 2 that I needed to be delivered to a friend by February 13 would arrive by then, given it was the last possible estimated delivery date. But, as of the time of writing, it has yet to be delivered, despite the company’s initial 6-9 business day delivery estimate.
It turns out my timing was horrendously bad. The day my order arrived in the US, February 4, was the very day President Donald Trump’s new 10% tariff on imported goods from China took effect, impacting goods worth less than $800, which previously were exempt from tariffs.
That meant that my order, along with many, many others coming from China, had to undergo a more rigorous inspection with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Additionally, to comply with the new laws, the US Postal Service briefly stopped delivering packages from China.
After chaos and confusion ensued, the Trump administration paused the so-called de minimis provision on February 7, allowing shipments worth less than $800 to come to the US tariff-free again — at least until “adequate systems are in place” for the Commerce Department “to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue,” according to the executive order Trump signed.
Read more about how Trump’s tariffs might be impacting your deliveries here.
