Never a dull moment under the current White House administration! Tariff developments over the weekend have been moving fast, and we want to keep you clearly informed about how this affects your orders from Israel.

The White House recently posted an extremely jargon‑heavy update titled “Continuing the Suspension of Duty‑Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries.” For our customers, the most important part is this paragraph from Section 3(b):

“A duty equal to the rate provided in the Proclamation of February 20, 2026 (Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems), shall be assessed on the value of each dutiable postal item containing goods entered for consumption. This duty rate shall be assessed until the expiration date of the temporary import surcharge… or until the effective date of the new entry process for postal shipments established by CBP, whichever date occurs first.” 

So what does that mean in plain English?

When we ship your order from Israel using Israel Post → USPS, the United States now charges a temporary extra import duty on every package. This is based on a new Presidential order issued on February 20, 2026.

Here’s the simple version:

1. There is a temporary surcharge (extra tax) on all postal packages.

The U.S. President introduced a temporary import surcharge. Whatever percentage that surcharge is, USPS must charge the same rate on international postal packages. 

2. How long will this extra charge last?

The surcharge continues until whichever of these happens first:

A. The temporary surcharge itself expires, or
B. U.S. Customs (CBP) launches a new postal‑entry processing system. 

Once either of these events occurs, this temporary surcharge on USPS‑delivered packages automatically ends.

A Quick Look Back: What Happened Six Months Ago

When the U.S. eliminated the de minimis rule back in August 2025, every shipment—no matter how small—became subject to full import duty + customs processing fees. Postal and courier shipments alike.

For our U.S. customers, this meant a 15% import duty on most items, plus processing/brokerage fees. UPS, in particular, charges significant administrative fees for this paperwork.

We did everything we could to negotiate or reduce those charges, but courier fees are set at the carrier level and we cannot alter them.

Israel Post's Surprising (and helpful) Role

Shortly after the U.S. rule change, Israel Post stepped up with an impressively fast and efficient system to handle all the required customs data.

Most importantly:

• Their processing fees were extremely low.
• We decided to absorb those fees ourselves, instead of passing them on to you.

As a result, our First Class and EMS/Priority shipping options have become much more attractive for our U.S. customers—while the UPS option has become less appealing due to its higher brokerage surcharges.

What Happens Next?

That depends entirely on:

• U.S. Customs (CBP) — how quickly they implement their new postal‑entry system.
• Israel Post — how quickly they adapt to CBP’s changes.

We don’t set these policies, we don’t influence them, and we have no control over when changes take effect. For now, everything continues as-is, and we’re not in a position to adjust our shipping options.