Big Change in USPS Mailing from USVI to Mainland U.S.

St. Croix Times Staff

USVI - As if life under the Trump Administration tariffs and funding cuts hasn’t been difficult enough to digest, now comes an enormous change by the United States Postal Service (USPS) that affects every USVI resident who needs to send packages via the mail to the U.S. Mainland.

Effective as of August 29, 2025:  

What Changed? 

Executive Order (EO) 14324 eliminated the duty-free de minimis exemption for goods valued at $800 or less. As a result, all postal items with goods bound for the U.S. and Puerto Rico (which are inside the U.S. Customs Territory) will be subject to customs duties (unless an exemption applies).

What does that mean for USPS?

All USPS customers shipping from the U.S. Territories* to the United States and Puerto Rico must now prepay duties before tendering to USPS. USPS has partnered with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) qualified party to provide a solution that will allow customers to easily pay duties to CBP.

*Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands.

What does that mean for customers?

Customers shipping from Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands can use the free Zonos Prepay app to calculate and securely pay duties before visiting the Post Office. The app will provide a Declaration ID and QR Code, which the customers will present at the retail unit. Without a Declaration ID, USPS cannot accept the package(s) for delivery to the U.S. or Puerto Rico.

Note: As of September 20, 2025, the above new shipping/mailing requirements were not in effect at the Frederiksted Post Office. But the clerk did put everyone on notice by issuing a copy of the above Executive Order and explaining that this would be the law of the land in the near future. 

Hopefully, the powers that be in the USVI will be able to figure out some way for residents of the USVI to be exempt from this tedious mailing procedure.