USPS halts packages from China and Hong Kong

USPS has temporarily suspended international package acceptance of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong until further notice. This affects buyers from Temu, Shein, and other Chinese e-commerce websites.

Effective immediately, this suspension will not affect the flow of letters and flats (larger envelopes) from China and Hong Kong, USPS assures.

While the organization didn’t provide any additional details, the announcement follows US President Donald Trump’s executive order imposing broad 10% tariffs on China. Trump also terminated the “de minimis” exception for packages valued at $800 or less – small packages are now also subject to tariffs.

In recent years, Temu, Shein, and similar e-commerce companies relying on small duty-free shipments and inexpensive product offers have exploded in popularity in the US. The latest Trump decision challenges their business model.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) estimates that over the last 10 years, the number of shipments entering the US claiming the de minimis administrative exemption increased by more than 600% from approximately 139 million in 2015 to over 1.36 billion in 2024.

“This exponential increase has created challenges for CBP’s effective enforcement of US trade laws, health and safety requirements, intellectual property rights, and consumer protection rules,” CBP said in a press release.

CBP also previously expressed concern that the large volume of low-value e-commerce shipments makes it difficult to detect and block the import of fentanyl, other illicit drugs and related raw materials, and even manufacturing equipment.

Bloomberg reports that Chinese e-commerce stock prices fell after the USPS announcement.

Some analysts told Reuters that USPS might take some time to sort out how to execute the new tax rules for parcels that were previously duty-free.