The USA Postal Service introduced Tuesday that it’s quickly suspending inbound packages from China and Hong Kong, a transfer that’s prone to create delays and issues for packages from different locations too.
The suspension comes after President Trump used an govt order imposing a ten p.c tariff on Chinese language items to additionally shut a loophole known as the de minimis exception, which allowed packages valued beneath $800 to enter the US obligation free. It’s how e-commerce outfits together with Shein and Temu have been in a position to provide items to US patrons at such low costs. It is usually broadly exploited by the likes of Amazon and by retailers on Etsy and eBay.
The restriction is momentary, although no finish date has been set. Solely packages and parcels are affected, with letters and envelopes persevering with to ship as traditional. The suspension can also be particular to the official postal companies of the 2 nations, relatively than personal courier and delivery companies. Neither UPS nor FedEx has introduced restrictions, however they’re undoubtedly struggling to deal with the brand new necessities.
The problem dealing with USPS and others is managing the duty of inspecting the massive quantity of shipments from China which are all of a sudden eligible for obligation and import taxes, which is nearly sure to create delays and issues for packages from different locations. The suspension might even have an effect on parcels from different couriers, since USPS is often utilized by personal delivery corporations because the last-mile supply service.
Over 1.3 billion parcels entered the US utilizing the de minimis exemption in 2024 based on US Customs and Border Safety, a quantity that’s grown by greater than 600 p.c over the previous decade. De minimis hasn’t been eliminated completely, however shipments from China are not eligible for it.
Along with enabling the likes of Shein and Temu, de minimis shipments have posed security considerations, making it simpler for low high quality merchandise to achieve US patrons. Within the excessive case, some e-bike and battery producers have used de minimis to skirt security laws and keep away from product inspection, leading to lots of of fires brought on by defective e-bike batteries in New York Metropolis alone.
China has already launched its personal response to Trump’s tariffs, with levies on gas and huge automobiles shipped from the US, together with restrictions on exports of sure uncommon minerals utilized in some know-how manufacturing. The nation has additionally initiated antitrust proceedings towards Google and Nvidia, with probes into Intel and Apple rumored to be within the works as properly.