US shipping chaos: I fear my wedding sari is destroyed

Customers worry about missing parcels as shipping companies struggle to handle a flood of packages facing new customs and tariff rules.

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Six weeks later, she is still waiting for the shipment - and fears it is lost, destroyed by UPS as the company struggles to handle a flood of packages facing new customs and tariff rules.

"It's been horrific," says the 28-year-old, who was notified last month that her boxes would be disposed of, leaving her to make frantic phone calls and send emails to try to head off the outcome.

It's an ordeal facing many UPS customers since the Trump administration in late August stopped allowing parcels worth less than $800 to enter the US without inspection, taxes or tariffs.

The decision abruptly made an estimated 4 million packages each day subject to new, more onerous processing and documentation rules.