US Postal Service suspends incoming packages from China, Hong Kong

The US Postal Service said it would temporarily suspend parcels from China and Hong Kong, after President Donald Trump shut a trade loophole this week used by retailers including Temu and Shein to ship low-value packages duty-free to the US, Report informs via Reuters.

The Trump administration imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods that came into effect on Tuesday and moved to close the "de minimis" loophole that allows importers and US shoppers to avoid paying tariffs for packages worth less than $800.

USPS said the change will not impact the flow of letters and 'flats' from China and Hong Kong. It did not immediately comment on whether this was tied to Trump's change to ending de minimis shipments from China and other countries.

Fast-fashion retailer Shein and online dollar-store Temu, both of which sell products ranging from toys to smartphones, have grown rapidly in the US thanks in part to the de minimis exemption.

The two firms together likely accounted for more than 30% of all packages shipped to the United States each day under the de minimis provision, the US congressional committee on China said in a June 2023 report.

Nearly half of all packages shipped under de minimis come from China, according to the report.

Shein and Temu did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

"In our view, the USPS would require some time to sort out how to execute the new taxes before allowing Chinese packages to arrive in the US again," said Chelsey Tam, senior equity analyst, Morningstar. "This is a significant challenge for them because there were 4 million de minimis package per day in 2024, and it is difficult to check all the packages - so it will take time."