suspending

Australia and Japan latest countries to stop some postal services to US for goods valued at less than $800.

Australia and Japan have joined a growing list of countries suspending some parcel shipments to the United States after US President Donald Trump’s administration ended an exemption that allowed packages valued at less than $800 to enter the country duty-free.

With the “de minimis” exemption set to end on Friday, Australia Post announced that it was implementing “a temporary partial suspension”.

In a statement on Tuesday, Australia Post said it was “disappointed” but the decision was necessary “due to the complex and rapidly evolving situation”.

Packages sent to the US and Puerto Rico lodged on or after Tuesday will not be accepted until further notice, the postal service said. Gifts valued at less than $100, letters and documents are unaffected by the change.

Australia Post said it would continue to work with the US and Australian authorities and international postal partners to resume services to the US soon.

Japan Post made a similar announcement on Monday, saying the suspension of some parcel shipments was necessary.

The procedures for transport and postal operators were “not clear”, which is “making implementation difficult”, Japan Post said.

Australian public broadcaster ABC said some businesses that make products in Australia have already suspended shipments, with Australian shipping software company Shippit saying it had seen a decline in shipments from Australia to the US even before the new changes came into effect.

“There’s been a 36 percent drop in volume since April in terms of outbound shipments from Australia to the US,” Shippit’s chief executive, Rob Hango-Zada, said, according to the ABC.

The announcements from Australia and Japan come after several European postal services announced similar changes last week, including Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, France, Austria and the United Kingdom.

The UK’s Royal Mail said it would halt shipments to the US beginning on Tuesday to allow time for those packages to arrive before new duties kick in.

“Key questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future, what additional data will be required, and how the data transmission to the US Customs and Border Protection will be carried out,” DHL, the largest shipping provider in Europe, said in a statement.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has announced a rolling wave of tariffs, or taxes paid on goods imported into the US.

The changing nature of Trump’s tariffs, which vary from country to country and are different in some cases depending on which products are being imported, has added to the confusion for postal services.

Trump had already ended the “de minimis” exemption with China and Hong Kong on May 2, closing a loophole which was widely used by fast-fashion companies Shein, Temu and others to ship duty-free.

The tax and spending bill recently signed by Trump repealed the legal basis for the “de minimis” exemption worldwide starting on July 1, 2027.

Goods shipped through the postal system will now face one of two tariffs: either an “ad valorem duty” equal to the effective tariff rate of the package’s country of origin or, for six months, a specific tariff of $80 to $200, depending on the country of origin’s tariff rate.

Aug. 12 (UPI) — Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner nominee E.J. Antoni has suggested suspending monthly jobs reports in favor of more accurate quarterly reports.

The economist criticized the current methods used by the BLS to gauge employment numbers in the United States in an Aug. 4 interview with Fox News Digital that was reported on Tuesday.

“How on Earth are businesses supposed to plan, or how is the [Federal Reserve] supposed to conduct monetary policy, when they don’t know how many jobs are being added or lost in our economy?” Antoni said.

“It’s a serious problem that needs to be fixed immediately,” he added.

Instead of continuing to publish what he called flawed monthly jobs reports that undergo significant adjustments months later, Antoni favors publishing more accurate quarterly reports.

That would continue until the BLS can correct data-gathering methods and ensure more accurate monthly reports, he said.

“Major decision-makers from Wall Street to D.C. rely on these numbers,” Antoni said. “A lack of confidence in the data has far-reaching consequences.”

Antoni is the lead economist for the Heritage Foundation, and President Donald Trump said he will ensure accuracy in the BLS jobs reports.

“Our economy is booming,” Trump said Monday evening in a Truth Social post. “E.J. will ensure the numbers released are honest and accurate.”

Trump on Aug. 1 fired former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the BLS reported 73,000 new jobs in July, which was less than half of the 147,000 jobs reported in June.

The BLS on Aug. 1 revised down the June report to 14,000 jobs created, which is 133,000 and 90.5% fewer than initially reported.

The BLS also revised downward its prior employment report for May, which initially was reported as 144,000 new jobs, to 19,000.

The revised May jobs report is 125,000 fewer than initially reported, which is a change of 87%.

Trump accused McEntarfer of knowingly producing false jobs reports shortly before the Nov. 5 election that reflected well upon the Biden administration but later were revised to remove 818,000 jobs.

President Joe Biden nominated McEntarfer to lead the BLS in July 2023, which the Senate confirmed in January 2024.

Greece has suspended asylum applications for people arriving by sea for three months.

That has come about after a large rise in the number of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to the Greek island of Crete.

Athens wants to stop their boats from even entering Greek waters.

Human rights groups said denying them asylum is against international law.

So can a change in policy really stop people heading to Europe? Are North African countries able to help in reducing the number of boats? And what are the likely outcomes of this suspension?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Eleni Spathana – lawyer with Refugee Support Aegean and author of Legal Assistance for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Greece

Amine Snoussi – political analyst and journalist

Marianna Karakoulaki – researcher at Birmingham University focusing on forced migration on Europe’s Eastern Mediterranean migratory route

Iran is also considering an entry ban on IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, after rejecting his request to visit nuclear sites.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has signed a law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), amid growing tensions between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog over monitoring access and transparency, after United States and Israeli strikes on its most important nuclear facilities during a 12-day conflict last month.

“Masoud Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday.

The move comes a week after Iran’s parliament passed legislation to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, citing Israel’s June 13 attack on Iran and later strikes by the US on Iranian nuclear facilities.

According to the parliament resolution, IAEA inspectors will not be allowed to visit nuclear sites without approval from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Iran’s foreign minister earlier this week said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, whom Iranian officials have sharply criticised for failing to condemn Israeli and US strikes during the recent 12-day war, was no longer welcome in the country.

Officials have also criticised Grossi over a June 12 resolution passed by the IAEA board accusing Tehran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations.

Iranian officials said the resolution was among the “excuses” for the Israeli attacks.

Iran has also rejected a request from IAEA chief Grossi to visit nuclear facilities bombed during the war.

“Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent,” said Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on X on Monday. “Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defence of its interests, its people and its sovereignty.”

Earlier this week, Pezeshkian decried Grossi’s “destructive” conduct, while France, Germany and the United Kingdom have condemned unspecified “threats” made against the IAEA chief.

Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper recently claimed that documents showed Grossi was an Israeli spy and should be executed.

Iran has insisted no threats were posed against Grossi or the agency’s inspectors.

The 12-day war began when Israel carried out a surprise bombardment of Iranian nuclear facilities and military sites and assassinated several top military commanders and nuclear scientists. Tehran responded with waves of missiles and drones at Israel.

On June 22, Israel’s ally, the US, launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. A ceasefire between Iran and Israel took hold on June 24.

At least 935 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Iran, according to judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir, citing the latest forensic data. The deceased included 132 women and 38 children, Jahangir added.

Iran’s retaliatory attacks killed 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.

US President Donald Trump said the US attacks had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, though the extent of the damage was not clear.

Araghchi has admitted that “serious” damage has been inflicted on nuclear sites.

But in a recent interview with US media outlet CBS Evening News, he said: “One cannot obliterate the technology and science… through bombings.”

Israel and some Western countries say Iran has sought nuclear weapons – an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.

WASHINGTON — White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller says President Trump is looking for ways to expand his legal power to deport migrants who are in the United States illegally. To achieve that, he says, the administration is “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional right for people to legally challenge their detention by the government.

Such a move would be aimed at migrants as part of the Republican president’s broader crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The Constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Miller told reporters outside the White House on Friday.

The White House has maintained that the influx of immigrants amounts to an invasion of the United States.

“So, I would say that’s an option we’re actively looking at,” Miller said. “Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

What is habeas corpus?

The Latin term means “that you have the body.” Federal courts use a writ of habeas corpus to bring a prisoner before a neutral judge to determine if imprisonment is legal.

Habeas corpus was included in the Constitution as an import from English common law. Parliament enacted the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, which was meant to ensure that the king released prisoners when the law did not justify confining them.

The Constitution’s Suspension Clause, the second clause of Section 9 of Article I, states that habeas corpus “shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.”

Has it been suspended previously?

Yes. The United States has suspended habeas corpus under four distinct circumstances during its history. Those usually involved authorization from Congress, something that would be nearly impossible today — even at Trump’s urging — given the narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus multiple times during the Civil War, beginning in 1861 to detain suspected spies and Confederate sympathizers. He ignored a ruling from Roger Taney, who was the Supreme Court chief justice but was acting in the case as a circuit judge. Congress then authorized suspending it in 1863, which allowed Lincoln to do so again.

Congress acted similarly under President Ulysses S. Grant, suspending habeas corpus in parts of South Carolina under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, it was meant to counter violence and intimidation of groups opposing Reconstruction in the South.

Habeas corpus was suspended in two provinces of the Philippines in 1905, when it was a U.S. territory and authorities were worried about the threat of an insurrection, and in Hawaii after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, but before it became a state in 1959.

Writing before becoming a Supreme Court justice, Amy Coney Barrett co-wrote a piece stating that the Suspension Clause “does not specify which branch of government has the authority to suspend the privilege of the writ, but most agree that only Congress can do it.”

Could the Trump administration do it?

It can try. Miller suggested that the U.S. is facing “an invasion” of migrants. That term was used deliberately, though any effort to suspend habeas corpus would spark legal challenges questioning whether the country was facing an invasion, let alone presenting extraordinary threats to public safety.

Federal judges have so far been skeptical of the Trump administration’s past efforts to use extraordinary powers to make deportations easier, and that could make suspending habeas corpus even tougher.

Trump argued in March that the U.S. was facing an “invasion” of Venezuelan gang members and evoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority he has tried to use to speed up mass deportations.

His administration acted to swiftly deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua to a notorious prison in El Salvador, leading to a series of legal fights.

Federal courts around the country, including in New York, Colorado, Texas and Pennsylvania, have since blocked the administration’s uses of the Alien Enemies Act for many reasons, including questions about whether the country is facing an invasion.

If courts are already skeptical, how could habeas corpus be suspended?

Miller, who has been fiercely critical of judges ruling against the administration, advanced the argument that the judicial branch may not get to decide.

“Congress passed a body of law known as the Immigration [and] Nationality Act, which stripped Article III courts, that’s the judicial branch, of jurisdiction over immigration cases,” he said Friday.

That statute was approved by Congress in 1952 and there were important amendments in 1996 and 2005. Legal scholars note that it does contain language that could funnel certain cases to immigration courts, which are overseen by the executive branch.

Still, most appeals in those cases would largely be handled by the judicial branch, and they could run into the same issues as Trump’s attempts to use the Alien Enemies Act.

Have other administrations tried this?

Technically not since Pearl Harbor, though habeas corpus has been at the center of some major legal challenges more recently than that.

President George W. Bush did not move to suspend habeas corpus after the Sept. 11 attacks, but his administration subsequently sent detainees to the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, drawing lawsuits from advocates who argued the administration was violating it and other legal constitutional protections.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that Guantanamo detainees had a constitutional right to habeas corpus, allowing them to challenge their detention before a judge. That led to some detainees being released from U.S. custody.

Weissert writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.

May 9 (UPI) — The Trump administration is “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus, which is the right to challenge the legality of a person’s detention by the government, White House senior adviser Stephen Miller said Friday.

Outside the White House, the deputy chief of staff for policy was asked by a reporter whether President Donald Trump was considering suspending the writ of habeas corpus to deal with illegal immigration in the United States.

“Well, the Constitution is clear — and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land — that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Miller said.

“So, it’s an option we’re actively looking at. Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

Miller said judges should stop blocking the deportation of undocumented immigrants in cases in which those people are exercising habeas writs.

One Democratic aide told The Hill that “Stephen Miller is not a lawyer but he plays an (expletive) one on TV. No one in their right mind would take his advice seriously, but sanity is in short supply in this administration.”

The U.S. Constitution, in Article 1, section 9, reads: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

The writ of habeas corpus has been suspended only four times, according to the National Constitution Center. They were during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865, when parts of South Carolina was overrun by the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction in 1871-1872, when two provinces in the Philippines were under unrest in 1905 and in Hawaii after the bombing at Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett and attorney Neal Katyal in 2017 wrote the Constitution “does not specify which branch of government has the authority to suspend the privilege of the writ. But most agree that only Congress can do it.”

On April 7, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, allowed deportations of alleged members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador based on the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. But the justices ruled that the government must give deportees “reasonable time” to challenge their removal in court before being deported.

The 1798 Alien Enemies Act has been used three times during wars.

Administration officials didn’t adhere to an oral order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in March to turn around or halt flights of Venezuelan migrants headed to the Salvadoran prison.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts said deporting a group of migrants overseas, possibly to Libya and Saudi Arabia, would violate court orders prohibiting the government from shipping deportees to a third country. Murphy was appointed by President Joe Biden.

Also, students, including Rumeysa Ozturk at Tufts and Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia, have challenged their detention. Ozturk on Friday was granted bail by District Judge William Sessions in Vermont, appointed by President Barack Obama.

Miller told reporters the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965 takes away jurisdiction by the Judicial Branch over immigration cases.

“The courts aren’t just at war with the executive branch, the courts are at war — these radical, rogue judges — with the legislative branch, as well. So all of that will inform the choices the president ultimately makes,” Miller said.

Some men deported said they’re not members of gangs.

“If Donald Trump can sweep non-citizens off the street and fly them to a torturer’s prison in El Salvador with no due process, he can do it to citizens, too,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said last week. “Because if there is no due process, no fair hearing, you have no opportunity to object.”

“The USPS and Customs and Border Protection are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery,” it said.

USPS suspended receiving packages from China and Hong Kong Tuesday until further notice in what it called a “temporary service disruption.”

The Wednesday statement acknowledged new Trump administration tariffs on Chinese goods was behind the disruption in service.

Letters and flat mailers from China and Hong Kong were not impacted.

An additional 10% tariff was placed on Chinese goods and 25% on Canadian and Mexican products. The Canada and Mexico tariffs will be implemented in 30 days.

The three nations are the largest U.S. trading partners.

A loophole known as de minimus was closed as the new tariffs were imposed. It let packages worth less than $800 be imported into the United States duty-free.

Chinese companies Temu and Shein likely make up more than 30% of de minimus packages, according to a 2023 House report.

Congress raised the de minimus threshold in 2016 from $200 per package to $800.

China imposed a 10% tariff on 72 U.S. exports in retaliation for the Trump tariffs. A 15% tariff was applied to eight U.S. products.

The impacted U.S. exports included crude oil, farm machinery, large-engine cars, coal, and liquified natural gas.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, has called for UN member states to consider suspending Israel over the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and its decades-long illegal occupation of Palestinian land.