Zonos: The U.S market is too big to ignore
With the U.S. de minimis shake-up reshaping global logistics, Post and Parcel spoke with Aaron Bezzant, Head of Supply Chain at Zonos (and a presenter at WMX Americas this February), to understand how the company is helping posts and carriers navigate the rapid policy shift.
In February 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order that would have suspended the U.S. de minimis duty-free entry system. However, those changes were quickly paused. As Aaron explains, “the industry simply wasn’t ready,” and neither industry stakeholders nor customs officials had adequate “systems in place” to make the transition work.
Zonos recognised early that postal operators were in serious trouble—and not only because of technical limitations. Aaron recalls: “It was very disruptive for everybody and post was a big part of the problem. All the packages started piling up, and that’s why the government had to pull it back and say, we need to pause until systems are in place.”
This moment marked the beginning of Zonos’ active engagement with postal operators to help them prepare for upcoming changes in the US.
While the industry had been aware that de minimis changes were coming, “It rolled out a little quicker than we anticipated,” Aaron says.
Evidence of the industry’s unpreparedness became clear in May: “The government removed the de minimis for China Post and Hong Kong Post and they put the burden of the duty collection on the carriers or the airlines.” Those carriers refused—causing mail from China and Hong Kong to shut down completely, with major consequences.
The broader fear across the industry quickly emerged: “if the government tries to implement the exact same system for the rest of the world, mail would shut down worldwide in the U.S,” said Aaron.
To prevent that outcome, Zonos pushed to be involved. “We were doing everything we could to be in the conversations – to explain there is another way.” The company worked to show policymakers that solutions already existed. Fortunately, “they left the door open” for Zonos to participate in the initial discussions and offer a viable path forward which ultimately prevented international mail from experiencing the same outcome as China Post and Hong Kong Post in May.
Zonos then secured a place on the CBP Qualified Party list—companies certified by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect duties on low-value international shipments.
Aaron recounts the chaos that followed: “the executive order came out at the end of July. They had 30 days before it went live. CBP doesn’t write the rules. They enforce them. So they had to quickly put guidance in place.”
“we recognised there was an opportunity for our software to be able to help,” he explains. Postal operators weren’t the only ones needing support—commercial carriers and retailers also faced major challenges.
Zonos was founded by CEO Clint Reid in 2009 who previously worked with DHL and UPS. The company began by building a checkout solution to help e-commerce retailers sell cross-border: ” it’s evolved from there into a very heavy technology company,” says Aaron.
Because Zonos had already built tools to pre-collect duties and taxes, the company was well positioned when the U.S. needed these capabilities: “pre collecting duty and taxes is where we started so we were well positioned to help.”
The de minimis changes officially came into effect—and stayed—in August 2025, and Zonos was well prepared.
Zonos’ early involvement wasn’t luck; it was foresight: “We were definitely anticipating everything that was coming – we were plugged into the post community at large – we had boots on the ground.”
The new rules introduced two major burdens: remitting duties to CBP and—far more difficult—collecting duties before packages are sent. “All of these postal operators having to collect all the duties before they can send it to the U.S.—that’s not status quo. It was, very disruptive.”
Some postal operators had experience collecting duties; others had never done it before.
In response, Zonos built multiple tailored solutions, including a mobile app for collecting fees at the postal counter. They also offer free tools to help companies calculate the new duties/tariffs including a dashboard solution so all their shippers understand what the costs are going to be.
Zonos also worked with the UPU and created software so that posts “have access to our calculations without having to do a technical integration.”
The de minimis changes opened an entirely new business line for Zonos.
Aaron says: “It is a whole new world post de minimis – mandating that everything’s prepaid going into the U.S.—that’s a whole different ballgame. It definitely lit a fire in the company – we had to adapt quickly.”
Previously, many shippers didn’t need Zonos’ tools because so much entered the U.S. duty-free. Now, “everyone needs a solution to get the U.S.”
Zonos also plays a role in helping businesses remain in the U.S. market following the de minimis changes. As Aaron explains while many are adapting, “some businesses are pulling out of the U.S. entirely. “
For shippers feeling overwhelmed, his advice is simple: “Get some help. The U.S market is too big to ignore – It can still be easier than you expect with the right solutions.”
Zonos’ purpose is to simplify this complexity: “We take all those complex things and make that solution simple – helping to reopen the option of shipping to the US.”
Future Plans
Zonos’ culture is grounded in innovation: “We move fast- technology is our game.” But the next year will demand even more adaptation. “This current process is not intended to be the long term plan – we’re going to have to evolve. The absolute non negotiable goal for us is to make it so all of the postal operators have a seamless transition into the new clearance process.”
Globally, Zonos expects major knock-on effects: “Europe are currently looking at removing their duty de minimis we’re going be well positioned for changes in any region of the world. It just happens to be the U.S today.”
