Good Smile Company suspends all shipments to the United States
Japanese hobby manufacturer Good Smile Company has announced that it is temporarily suspending all shipments of its products to the United States.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, the 26th of August, on the company’s official online shop.
This suspension is a direct result of a major change in United States customs regulations and the subsequent response from Japan’s national postal service.
On the 30th of July, 2025, the U.S. government issued a Presidential Proclamation that suspended the “de minimis” rule for customs duties effective from the 29th of August.
This long-standing rule had allowed shipments valued at under $800 USD to enter the country without being subject to import taxes and duties.
In response, Japan Post has now announced that it will be temporarily halting its acceptance of all small packets, parcels, and EMS packages destined for the United States, starting on the 27th of August, 2025.
Japan Post issued a statement, advising customers that the new regulations would cause significant enough issues to warrant a temporary suspension of service:
Under this proclamation, mail containing goods imported for consumption purposes (duty-based mail) will no longer be subject to duty-free treatment and will be subject to customs duties starting August 29th of this year.
On August 15th of this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced “New Guidelines for the Elimination of De Minimis Treatment,” which require carriers and other entities to pay customs bond and prepare customs declarations.
However, the procedures that carriers and corresponding postal services in each country must follow remain unclear, making implementation extremely difficult.
Therefore, starting Wednesday, August 27th, we will suspend the acceptance of mail addressed to the U.S. containing the following items (small packages, parcels, and EMS (goods)), in line with other postal services in each country.
- Gifts between individuals with a value exceeding 100 US dollars
- Products for sale for consumption
We will continue to accept letters, postcards, printed matter, EMS (documents), as well as mail containing gifts between individuals with a value of less than US$100 (small packets, parcels, and EMS (goods)).
As a direct consequence of its primary shipping partner halting some of their services, the Good Smile Company Official Shop has now also been forced to suspend its own shipments to the U.S.
The suspension affects all orders being sent to the United States mainland and all of its overseas territories.
The temporary suspension of U.S. shipments by Good Smile Company is scheduled to begin on Thursday, the 28th of August, 2025.
Good Smile Company has stated that it is currently exploring alternative shipping carriers and methods in order to resume deliveries as soon as possible.
A new policy will be announced once it has been decided, and shipments will be resumed sequentially after that.
Other hobby goods companies that ship orders from Japan, such as AmiAmi and Tokyo Otaku Mode, have also now announced similar shipping suspensions.
It’s important to note that this affects orders from the Japanese Good Smile Company store only, and orders directly from the U.S. store are unaffected.
You can view the full statement issued by Good Smile Company on their official website.
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