US Postal Service suspends incoming packages from China, Hong Kong

USPS said the alteration volition not interaction the travel of letters and ‘flats’ from China and Hong Kong. It did not instantly remark connected whether this was tied to Trump’s alteration to ending de minimis shipments from China and different countries.

Fast-fashion retailer Shein and online dollar-store Temu, some of which merchantability products ranging from toys to smartphones, person grown rapidly successful the U.S. acknowledgment successful portion to the de minimis exemption.

The 2 firms unneurotic apt accounted for much than 30% of each packages shipped to the United States each time nether the de minimis provision, the U.S. legislature committee connected China said successful a June 2023 report.

Nearly fractional of each packages shipped nether de minimis travel from China, according to the report. Shein and Temu did not instantly reply to a petition for comment.

“In our view, the USPS would necessitate immoderate clip to benignant retired however to execute the caller taxes earlier allowing Chinese packages to get successful the U.S. again,” said Chelsey Tam, elder equity analyst, Morningstar.

“This is simply a important situation for them due to the fact that determination were 4 cardinal de minimis bundle per time successful 2024, and it is hard to cheque each the packages – truthful it volition instrumentality time.”

Trump’s crackdown connected de minimis would marque the products sold by the likes of Shein and Temu much costly but is improbable to dramatically interaction shipment volumes, experts said.

“E-commerce volumes retired of China grew 20-30% past year, truthful it’s going to instrumentality a sledgehammer to ace that level of user request and I’m not definite de minimis unsocial is enough,” said Niall van de Wouw, Chief Airfreight Officer astatine freight level Xeneta.

“They volition inactive beryllium cheaper than buying done retailers successful the U.S. Delays successful receiving the goods owed to operational disruptions could person a bigger interaction than price.” Shein has antecedently said it supports betterment of the de minimis provision.

Both Temu, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce elephantine PDD Holdings, and Singapore-headquartered Shein, which plans to database successful London this year, person taken measures specified arsenic sourcing much products from extracurricular China, opening U.S. warehouses and bringing much U.S. sellers connected board, to mitigate the impact.

But the immense bulk of their products are inactive made successful China. Trump imposed the other tariff connected Chinese goods aft repeatedly informing Beijing it was not doing capable to halt the travel of fentanyl, a unsafe synthetic opioid, into the U.S.