A United States Postal Service employee pushes a cart of packages in Recent York City, on Dec. 4, 2023.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday it’s temporarily suspending all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong Posts.
The change is effective immediately and can remain “until further notice,” based on an alert posted to the agency’s website. Letters and enormous envelopes, known as “flats,” sent from China and Hong Kong won’t be impacted, the USPS said.
The announcement comes after President Donald Trump on Saturday signed executive orders imposing tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada. Trump on Monday agreed to carry off on imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days, however the 10% tax on goods from China stays.
A provision within the orders eliminates a preferred trade loophole, often called “de minimis,” which allows exporters to ship packages value lower than $800 into the U.S. duty free.
Chinese e-commerce firms, including Shein and PDD Holdings‘ Temu, have relied on the de minimis loophole as a approach to bypass tariffs, and keep prices low.
