The US Postal Service has suspended incoming parcels from China and Hong Kong until further notice, amid a growing trade conflict between the US and China.
It comes as Donald Trump said he is not in a hurry to speak to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, despite expectations that they would hold talks after announcing tit-for-tat tariffs.
The postal service did not say why it was suspending incoming parcels, but among Trump’s measures against China are a broad-based tariff on imports, and the elimination of the de minimis duty-free exemption for low-value packages.
The suspension – which took effect immediately – appears likely related to the latter, and is expected to have significant impact on US consumer orders from retailers including Amazon. In 2023, a US government report said 30% of small packages coming into the US were from two Chinese e-commerce companies, Shein and Temu, alone. The USPS declined to answer further questions.