Postal services around the world are pausing some deliveries to the US over confusion around new import taxes that must be paid on parcels from the end of the month.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month ending the global import tax exemption on low-value parcels, which takes effect from 29 August.

While gifts worth less than $100 will remain duty-free, the changes mean all other packages will face the same tariff rate as other goods from their country of origin.

Postal services, including Royal Mail and Germany’s DHL, said they would suspend deliveries until they had proper systems in place to deal with the new rules.

Royal Mail said it was withdrawing its current US export services for businesses from Tuesday, but added it hoped to have a new system up and running within two days to allow it to comply with the new rules before they kick in.

“We have been working hard with US authorities and international partners to adapt our services to meet the new US de minimis requirements so UK consumers and businesses can continue to use our services when they come into effect,” the company said.

Royal Mail said cards and letters could continued to be posted as usual.

The US had a so-called de minimis exemption on packages worth up to $800, which allowed consumers to buy cheap clothing and household goods from sites such as Shein and Temu without paying import duties.

But the duty-free rule on Chinese goods ended on 2 May, and is now being extended to the rest of the word.