The US Postal Service (USPS) says it is accepting “all international inbound mail and packages” from China and Hong Kong, walking back an announcement made only hours earlier to halt acceptance of some overseas shipments.
The agency said late Wednesday that it was working with US Customs and Border Protection to minimise delivery disruptions while implementing an “efficient collection mechanism” for new tariffs on China.
The resumption of normal service capped about 12 hours of confusion after the postal service said late Tuesday that it would temporarily freeze the package shipments from China and Hong Kong, without providing an explanation.
The abrupt move threatened to exacerbate a trade war and weighed on shares of retailers such as Alibaba and JD.com.
It’s unclear what prompted the initial pause and the subsequent reversal — or whether the turnaround was the result of a political decision or a logistical one.
It comes after President Donald Trump revoked a “de minimis” rule for China, which previously allowed small packages under $800 to enter the US duty-free. The exemption was revoked as part of a new 10% tariff on goods from China that require postal providers to adjust customers and other protocols to comply with the levies.
It also wasn’t immediately clear whether any packages were actually blocked under the announced pause. USPS said in its original announcement that letters and “flat mail” from China and Hong Kong would not be affected.
The number of de minimis packages coming into the US has soared over the last decade and totalled nearly 1.4 billion shipments during the 2024 fiscal year, according to customs officials. Such heavy volume could put fresh strains on a system unaccustomed to scrutinising smaller, lower-value parcels.
The de minimis revocation poses a “significant challenge” for USPS in terms of sorting out how to apply the new tariff rules, said Chelsey Tam, senior equity analyst at Morningstar. “There were 4 million de minimis packages per day in 2024, and it is difficult to check all the packages.”
Washington is cracking down on a loophole that retailers like Temu and Shein have used for years to expand in the US, allowing them to ship high volumes of small packages and gain an edge over competitors like Amazon.com.
Critics say the flood of parcels from China is difficult to track and may contain illegal or dangerous goods.
Reuters reported previously that Chinese suppliers use the duty-free provision to export chemical materials for fentanyl by disguising them as gadgets and other low-cost goods.