NZ Post will not ship deliveries to the US until further notice. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
A small business owner in Wellington has had to refund about $500 after being unable to ship to the United States.
NZ Post suspended some forms of shipping to the country last Thursday after the US imposed tariffs of 15 percent.
Artist Pepper Raccoon told Morning Report that she feared for the future of her "very small business" as customers from the US made up 20 percent of her sales.
"I've been in business for eight years, and I've taken a lot of knocks with Covid, and then the cost-of-living crisis, and breaking into the US market and having consistent access to at least 20 percent of my income coming from there has been really helpful, so, yeah, it was definitely a big leg up for my business, and I'm not really sure where to go from here, honestly, and I think a lot of other small businesses will be feeling the same way."
Raccoon said she was not sure whether she would be able to ship to the United States again in the future, despite NZ Post having expected the suspension to be short term.
"The understanding I had was that the US Customs were going to contact customers and collect the tariffs from them, and what's eventuated, in fact, is that we as the businesses overseas are responsible for collecting and submitting those tariffs, and the correct way to do that is to do that through a certified brokerage, and basically that involves paying substantial fees to the brokerage," she said.
"One of the companies I looked at that's certified to collect these tariffs to integrate with Shopify, which is what I use, is $4000 a year, and I simply can't afford that on top of all of my other operating expenses."
Raccoon was not the only small business owner in Wellington who feared for their future.
South Pacific Berets owner Daan Kolthoff told RNZ about 90 percent of their customers lived in the US.
He spent his weekend processing refunds, a difficult prospect for such a niche business.
"It's very painful. I have to contact them and refund their money, because I have no idea how long this will take or what sort of increase in cost there will be," Kolthoff said.
"I have to cancel a number of orders and make an announcement on the website that US customers for the time being can't place orders with me. It's quite bad for my business."
NZ Post declined an interview with Morning Report on Monday.
In a statement to RNZ, NZ Post said it was responding "with agility" to make the necessary changes to resume shipping.
"Guidance from US Customs & Border Protection was only recently issued and requires a number of changes for both businesses and NZ Post, including updates to shipment data, duty and tax payments, and how goods are processed for entry into the US," a spokesperson said.
"We've been advised by our main airline partners that due to these new rules they have made the decision they will not be carrying mail items subject to this tariff."
Earlier, NZ Post said there were some restrictions on what could be sent to the US and US territories. This included suspending a number of services temporarily "until further notice", while formal processes around the new US tariffs were being finalised.
The suspended services included sending with economy, economy tracked, economy plus, courier and express. Letters sent via economy letters, and documents sent via express, were the only services still available.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Morning Report NZ Post wasn't the only postal service scrambling to react to new US tariffs.
"As these postal organisations have tried to worked out, they probably can't guarantee what the tariff rate will be or cost, or how that will all work in practical terms. So, I'm sure clarity will emerge and I'm sure NZ Post, along with its counterparts in other countries, will work with the US to get clarity."
Luxon said the government hasn't yet expressed concern to its Washington counterparts and is confident the situation will soon be resolved.
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