EU Ham Radio Shops Suspend Shipments to the United States
With the recent changes to US import policy, many shops in the EU, including ham radio shops, have begun suspending shipments to the United States. This is the result of both a widespread suspension of shipments to the US by most EU mail carriers and the ongoing unpredictability of the situation.
One French reseller of our products has written in to our blog, and wanted to explain the reason for their decision to suspend shipments to the US. We believe that other ham radio shops in the EU may also be in a similar position.
To our US Amateur Radio Clients and Community
Because of the recent 15% tariff increase on products imported from the European Union, the suspension of several carrier services to the US, and the growing complexity of the US import system, our online shop Passion-Radio.com must suspend all shipments to the United States until further notice.
In particular, La Poste, the French national postal operator, suspended parcel shipments to the United States as of August 25, 2025 (1), removing one of the main EU–US postal channels. At the same time, UPS announced that starting September 8, 2025, an additional international processing fee will apply to all import shipments, regardless of origin.
There has also been some misunderstanding regarding customs procedures. When parcels arrive in the United States, the buyer must settle not only the 15% customs duty, but also the service fee charged by the carrier for filing customs declarations and advancing duties to US Customs. These charges are billed locally at delivery and remain outside the seller’s control. Import duties and tariffs are always the responsibility of the buyer, not the seller.
"Unfortunately, with constant changes in tariffs, rates, and carrier processes, we cannot guarantee fair, efficient, and transparent shipping conditions," said David, F1JXQ, Director of Passion Radio. "Our goal is to resume shipments to the US as soon as a reliable and cost-effective solution is available for everyone."
Meanwhile, our collaboration with five US-based suppliers continues without disruption, as the European Union has not imposed any retaliatory tariffs or reciprocal 15% import duties on products arriving from the United States.
Updates will be communicated through our shop: https://www.passion-radio.com/store/hamradio-us-tariff-43 and our social channels.
To all our US friends on the bands: we thank you for your understanding and support, and we look forward to resuming deliveries as soon as possible.
They go on to explain an example:
Practical tariffs impact on an item €50
Before tariffs (without 15%, rate €1 = $1.12 April 2025 rate)
Conversion: €50 × 1.12= $56.00*
Total payable ≈ $56.00
After tariffs (with 15%, rate €1 = $1.16 August 2025 rate)
Conversion: €50 × 1.16 = $58.00*
Customs duty 15%: $58.00 × 0.15 = $8.70
Carrier fees (on average, import processing): $15.00
Total payable ≈ 58.00 + 8.70 + 15.00 = $81.70
Total surcharge ≈ +$25.70 (~+45.89% increase compared to $56.00, before tariff tax)
* Not calculated, fees that may apply when converting Euro € <> US $.
FAQ
• Q1: Who pays import duties and tariffs when ordering from Europe?
By law, the US buyer must pay all customs duties, tariffs, and fees when importing goods from Europe. These charges are not paid by the seller.
• Q2: Why do carriers charge extra fees?
Carriers like UPS, FedEx, or DHL must submit customs declarations and advance duties to US Customs. For this, they bill a brokerage or processing fee directly to the buyer.
Sources :
Typical EU bullsh… You should see the Tariff’s on U.S goods for years! Tarheel antennas went from 350 to 600, now you cannot get them at all. Fact is the U.S sold lots of good ham gear we simply cannot get here because nobody could be bothered to make it. Now we can’t get it at all. So whining when the U.S does it back is typical EU drivel.
Facts
I don’t understand this reasoning. There must be something more to it. Why? Because it has always worked like this but the other way around, so what’s the problem with implementing existing practices but on the US side? I live in Poland now, in the past I lived in the UK (while it was still part of the EU). In both countries when I bought something online from US based stores, before getting my parcel I would be contacted by the customs agency, had to show them an invoice, they would check if the product is under tariff scheme, added VAT, added their processing fee, and calculated the total amount to pay based on that and shipping costs. Only after I paid that the parcel would be delivered. Inconvenient but doable. It works in the EU, why wouldn’t it in the US?
It would work in the US but it seems they (US customs) want to have the Tariffs processed but the sellers when using the postal system. Presumable to lower the workload for US customs. I am not privy to info how this will work but I guess sellers will collect Tariff fees from the US buyers and transfer the money to a US bank acount on a monthly basis.
The EU allready does this and the UK also does this for gods valued below 135£.
It is an unfortunate development for small business as it increses their workload if more and more regions/countries force them to be unpaid tax collectors for them.
//Harry
The US never had a VAT and aren’t set up to process it, so they’re trying to make the sellers post it. This is pretty unusual, in that it’s currently the only country in the world that does it like that currently.