The US Postal Service stated it will resume accepting packages from China only a day after asserting a suspension of the service, because the state-backed operator struggled to reply to President Donald Trump’s tariffs in opposition to Beijing.
Alongside the bundle of tariffs that got here into impact on Tuesday, the Trump administration scrapped the so-called de minimis guidelines exempting shipments underneath $800 in worth from import duties.
The postal service didn’t give a motive for the suspension on Tuesday, however on Wednesday stated it will “continue accepting all international inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong”.
The ending of the de minimis guidelines, which benefited massive Chinese language ecommerce teams together with Temu and Shein, means customs brokers now must test and formally clear the contents of packages mailed from China.
“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 postal service stated on Wednesday.
The adjustments will drive up sharply the price of the 4mn parcels a day arriving within the US underneath the de minimis exemption, about 30 per cent of which come from Temu and Shein.
The brand new tariffs threaten to hit China’s burgeoning worldwide ecommerce commerce at a second when Beijing is counting on exports to offset weak demand in its home financial system.
The New York-listed shares of PDD Holdings, which owns Temu, earlier fell as a lot as 7 per cent earlier than paring a few of their losses after the U-turn from the postal service.
Exporters stated Chinese language logistics corporations had been nonetheless working, however some had begun demanding 30 per cent upfront withholding charges to cowl elevated levies on de minimis shipments.
“Logistics companies . . . have gradually given notice to us on charging an extra 30-35 per cent of value of our goods to counter the tariffs, as well as an extra Rmb20 [$2.75] per package,” stated Liu, a cross-border ecommerce dealer in Changsha, in China’s central Hunan province.
Liu stated he bought circuit boards on Amazon, eBay and different websites, with the US accounting for 20 per cent of his annual gross sales. “This [the tariff increase] comes directly from our pockets.”
Chinese language logistics firm CNE Specific on Wednesday issued a discover to prospects saying it will withhold the equal of a “comprehensive tariff” at 30 per cent of the order worth of a cargo plus a dealing with cost of Rmb20 per bundle.
“The final amount levied will be determined by the actual charges imposed by US Customs and Border Protection,” it stated, saying that any distinction could be refunded to the client.
Joe Biden’s administration final yr flagged adjustments to the de minimis regime, which the US blames for permitting a flood of medicine and different unlawful items to enter the nation, whereas Trump has lengthy threatened larger tariffs.
However the velocity of the brand new president’s implementation of extra tariffs on China caught many unexpectedly. His govt order authorising extra blanket 10 per cent tariffs and the scrapping of de minimis was signed on Saturday and went into impact on Tuesday.
Not solely will parcels previously qualifying for de minimis now must pay the ten per cent, however they may even be hit with present tariffs.
Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping are anticipated to carry a name within the coming days, though the US chief stated on Tuesday that he was in “no rush” to speak to his Chinese language counterpart.
“What is needed now is not unilateral tariff increases, but dialogue,” stated China’s international affairs ministry on Wednesday.
Some exporters stated that they had stopped receiving and sending orders whereas they waited for readability on the adjustments.
One particular person accustomed to the matter at Temu stated it had largely cancelled its bookings for freight flights from Hong Kong beginning on Friday.
“It created a bit of chaos . . . because as we know, the de minimis is basically dead right now and a lot of the airlines that actually fly to the US . . . have cancelled flights,” the particular person stated.
Gongsun, a vendor from China’s southern Guangdong province who sells by Amazon, stated DHL, UPS and FedEx had been nonetheless taking parcels, however he had suspended all shipments to the US anyway.
“We don’t know what will come next,” he stated.
Gary Lau, enterprise growth director at freight forwarder Jet-Velocity Air Cargo Forwarders, believed Chinese language exporters might climate the tariff will increase as a result of their items had been nonetheless less expensive than different international locations.
Wen Biao, basic supervisor at Shenzhen-based Qianhe Expertise Logistics, stated Chinese language sellers already had skinny margins and could be compelled to extend their promoting costs.
“Customers [in the US] are likely to have to pay more going forward,” he stated.
DHL stated it was nonetheless accepting shipments from China to the US, however that “additional clearance time and fees” could be wanted. It stated it was working with prospects and suppliers to “limit adverse impact on US importers and consumers”.
Reporting by William Langley in Guangzhou, Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong, Wenjie Ding, Tina Hu and Joe Leahy in Beijing and Zehra Munir in New York
