Important Shipping Information for U.S. Customers

This information only applies to U.S. customers ordering from William Hannah for delivery to a U.S. address. Shipping to all other countries remains unchanged.

TL;DR - Shipping via Royal Mail/USPS is temporarily suspended due to De Minimis removal by the US Government from 29th August 2025. FedEx shipping is still available although you will need to pay duties, tariffs and/or fees to FedEx before they will deliver your order. Royal Mail/USPS shipping will resume once the situation becomes clearer, hopefully by the end of September 2025.

Background

On the 30th of July, the United States Government announced a new Executive Order removing the long-standing 'duty-free' De Minimis allowance of $800, meaning that from the 29th of August 2025, all goods entering the USA from any country will be subject to tariffs (duties) based on the country of origin of the goods.

Previously, anything you ordered from William Hannah was below the $800 De Minimis level, so you did not need to pay any duties, tariffs and/or taxes. From 29th August, U.S. customers will need to pay duties, tariffs and/or taxes to the U.S. Government on pretty much anything they purchase(import) from outside the U.S.

Unlike every other country that we ship to via Royal Mail, the customs duties will need to be paid to U.S. Customs before those items enter the USA. U.S. authorities will not accept items without duties paid on them.

It is our understanding (although this is by no means certain because information is very hard to come by) that you will ultimately need to pay a 10% tariff on the value of the order AND the shipping costs, and you may also be required to pay a small 'customs handling fee' levied by the shipping company or USPS.

Current Status - 11th September 2025

Royal Mail have implemented their solution for collecting US Tariffs and also introduced a small customs processing fee. We have sent a test order to the US, but it is currently stuck somewhere on the journey (US Customs ??). 

Assuming it does arrive safely, we still have to implement a suitable solution for collecting the tariffs and fees from US customers before shipping. At this stage, it is likely that we will simply increase our prices by 10% for US Customers only, and pay that extra 10% on their behalf to the US Government via Royal Mail or FedEx. The extra customs processing fees will be added, at cost, to our shipping prices.

Using this approach means that all orders sent to the US will be 'Duty Paid', and you will not need to pay anything further to USPS or FedEx.

Timings are still fluid until things settle down a bit more, but we remain hopeful that Royal Mail/USPS shipping will resume before the end of September.

Previous Update - 21st August 2025

FedEx have always collected any customs duties/taxes/tariffs directly from the customer whilst the goods are in transit, and once they are paid, they deliver the items. Once the shipment is booked, they will send you, the customer, an e-mail telling you how much is due, and giving you options to make the payment. This is the way it works in all other countries we ship to (e.g. Canada, the EU, etc). Therefore, you can continue to order from us, and select FedEx shipping, and you will receive an e-mail soon after we have shipped you order from FedEx, telling you how much you are required to pay to the U.S. Government.

Since U.S. authorities will not accept items without duties paid on them, we understand that Royal Mail are currently working on a solution whereby the duties, tariffs and/or fees will be collected when the shipping is purchased. This suggests that William Hannah will need to collect these amounts from you before the shipping is purchased. At the moment, there is very little clarity on this, and Royal Mail's solution has not yet appeared.

We have taken the decision to suspend Royal Mail/USPS shipping now, because the new rules will apply from 29th August regardless of when the item was actually posted. Given that it can take a week for items to reach the US, it will become increasingly likely after today that your order will arrive after the deadline, and since no duties have been paid, it will be rejected.

As soon as there is clarity on what the new process will be, we will be able to plan a solution for the collection of duties, tariffs and fees on your behalf and their payment (probably via Royal Mail) to U.S. Customs. We should then be able to resume shipping via Royal Mail. At this time we have no idea when this will be, but hopefully it will be before the end of September.

As this situation develops, we will provide updates here.