Wired (“USPS Halts All Packages From China, Sending the Ecommerce Industry Into Chaos“):
The United States Postal Services has abruptly stopped accepting all packages from Hong Kong and China until further notice, according to an international service disruption notice posted on the USPS website. The move comes after China imposed retaliatory tariffs on US imports, including coal and liquified natural gas, in response to President Trump’s executive order to increase tariffs on China.
Daniel, the owner of a trucking company based in Alberta, Canada, who asked to only use his first name for privacy reasons, tells WIRED that two of his company’s trucks were turned away at the US border in New York and Montana today because they contained packages originally from China. After speaking with a US Customs and Border Protection agent in Montana, the company was able to get a third truck into Washington state by removing all packages from China, Daniel says.
He adds that identifying and separating packages from China is an arduous process because the goods that his trucks carry usually include thousands of small parcels like DVDs, toys, and video games, all coming from a variety of sources.
“We talked to the Montana CBP cargo supervisor, and they said everything is from the higher-up,” Daniel says. “A lot of trucks were actually turned away today at the border, we were told by our drivers. And a lot of officers were checking the trucks and questioning [drivers] like, ‘Are you sure there are no made-in-China items in there? This is your last chance.’ They were actually going through the trucks and randomly checking the packages.”
Previously, packages like the ones Daniel’s company often handles could move freely across the border. Trump’s executive order, though, not only imposes an additional 10 percent tariff on goods from China but also ends a key import tax exemption, one that has enabled the rise of Chinese ecommerce platforms like Temu and Shein.
Known as de minimis, the rule waives import duties for small packages valued at less than $800 shipped into the US. Originally intended to exempt personal gifts and other items that Americans send home from trips abroad, it has since allowed foreign businesses to more easily sell goods to US consumers without needing to worry about paying import taxes. The number of de minimis packages has soared in recent years as the ecommerce market has become more global, making it difficult—if not impossible—for Customs and Border Protection to keep track of all the parcels flowing into the US.
NYT (“U.S. Postal Service Reverses Decision to Halt Parcel Service From China“):
The United States Postal Service on Wednesday said it would continue to accept packages from China and Hong Kong, reversing a decision to temporarily halt those deliveries after an order by President Trump took effect that ended duty-free handling of many smaller parcels.
Mr. Trump ordered on Saturday that all goods leaving China starting on Tuesday must follow the rules for higher-value shipments. Until the change, parcels worth up to $800 apiece were not required to include detailed information on their contents and were not subject to tariffs.
A spokesman for the postal service said that as of Wednesday, it “will continue accepting all international inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong Posts. The USPS and Customs and Border Protection are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery.”
The United States imports close to four million of such lower-value parcels a day with little or no customs inspection and no duties collected, with most of them coming from China.
The Trump administration and other critics have contended that allowing these packages into the United States has created a conduit for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, and related supplies to enter the United States.
But the duty-free provision on lower-value parcels, known as the de minimis rule, has also been used by many e-commerce companies to bring regular consumer items from China into the United States without paying tariffs on them.
Private shipping companies including FedEx and UPS are also affected by the change in customs rules, as they move a large portion of the parcels, running frequent cargo flights from China to the United States. Neither company has responded yet to questions about how they will handle the new rules.
It’s possible that this was not fully thought through before implementation.
