HONG KONG/SEOUL/SHANGHAI - The U.S. Postal Service said on Wednesday it would again accept parcels from China and Hong Kong, reversing a temporary suspension after President Donald Trump scrapped an exemption used by retailers including Temu, Shein, and Amazon to ship low-value packages duty-free to the U.S.
The about-face contributed to growing confusion among retailers and express shipping firms over how to deal with Trump's new 10% tariff on all imports from China and his closure of the "de minimis" duty exemption for package imports valued at under $800.
"We're all running around like headless chickens at this moment in time, trying to second-guess what's going to happen. And in two weeks' time we may be back to normal," said Martin Palmer, co-founder of Hurricane Commerce, a cross-border ecommerce data provider.
The Trump administration has blamed the de minimis exemption for allowing fentanyl and its precursor chemicals to enter the U.S. unscreened. Recent Reuters reporting has also found that drug traffickers have exploited the exemption.
USPS said that it was working with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery," it said in a statement.
USPS did not immediately comment on whether its temporary suspension had been tied to Trump's order ending de minimis shipments from China, which was announced on Saturday and came into force from one minute past midnight on Tuesday.
NO TRUMP-XI TALKS
On Wednesday morning there was still no call scheduled between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the new U.S. tariffs and Beijing's retaliatory measures, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Trump said on Tuesday that he was in no hurry to speak with Xi.
As Trump's tariffs, nominally aimed at curbing the flow of fentanyl and precursor chemicals into the U.S., took effect just after midnight Eastern Time on Tuesday,
China responded with targeted tariffs on imports of U.S. coal, liquefied natural gas, crude oil and farm equipment, and opened an anti-monopoly investigation into Alphabet's Google.
But the launch of the new trade war caught the retail and shipping sectors flat-footed.
"There has really been absolutely zero time for anyone to prepare for this," said Maureen Cori, co-founder of New York-based consultancy Supply Chain Compliance. "What we really need is direction from the government on how to handle this without warning or notice."
Currently, de minimis parcels are consolidated so that customs can clear hundreds or thousands of shipments at once, but they will now require individual clearances, significantly increasing the burden for postal services, brokers and customs agents, Cori said.
The provision was initially intended as a way to streamline trade, and its use has surged with the increase in online shopping.
About 1.36 billion shipments entered the United States using the de minimis provision in 2024, up 36% from 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
GREATER SCRUTINY
Logistics provider Easyship warned clients who regularly send sub-$800 shipments to the United States that they are likely to face much greater scrutiny and advised them to set up distribution centers within the country or partner with a local warehouse or U.S. fulfillment center.
YunExpress said in a notice to customers, that shipments would be subject to the new 10% duty plus prior 25% duties on steel and aluminum and Trump's Section 301 duties of 7.5% to 25% on certain Chinese goods.
Some other international couriers including FedEx, and SF Express, China's largest express delivery company, said they will continue to send packages to the United States.
But FedEx said it had suspended its money-back guarantee for U.S.-inbound shipments effective Jan. 29, citing recent regulatory changes, according to a notice on its website.
Deutsche Post-owned DHL, said it was working to avoid disruption to supply chains and limit negative impacts on customers and consumers.
Fast-fashion retailer Shein and online dollar-store Temu, both of which sell products ranging from toys to smartphones, have grown rapidly in the United States 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 U.S. congressional committee on China said in a June 2023 report, that also found nearly half of all packages shipped under de minimis come from China.
Shein and Temu did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
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