By: Summer Kennard
KOROR, Palau — “We ask for patience,” Postmaster General Santy Asanuma said after Palau’s Postal Service confirmed that the United States Postal Service has suspended outgoing packages from Palau to Hawaii and the continental U.S.
The suspension, which took effect August 29, does not affect incoming mail to Palau or parcels bound for Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Japan, the Philippines, U.S. military addresses, or first-class mail such as letters and flats.
Asanuma said the order was received late Friday, just as the post office was closing, leaving staff unaware until after about 100 pounds of packages had already been sent to Guam. Those parcels were returned to Palau on September 1 under the new restriction.
“For the reason why they are stopping mail has not been directly told to Palau Postal Services,” Asanuma said. “Packages are still in bags, and we are awaiting USPS instructions regarding the bags—whether or not to open them and disperse the packages.”
He noted that Palau has no choice but to comply with USPS directives. “Our postal services rely on USPS. So if USPS have announcements or orders, the best we can do is just be on standby and wait for the next action,” he said.
The suspension has frustrated residents. One Palauan woman living in Guam said she was turned away when she tried to mail a package, while another in Palau said she had spent nearly two weeks preparing a care package for her children in the U.S., only to be told she could not send it.
While USPS has not provided an official explanation to Palau, Guam Congressman James C. Moylan said in an August 31 press release that the action stems from President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14324, which suspended the duty-free exemption for packages valued under $800 entering the U.S.
