TECH

USPS suspends shipments from China and Hong Kong, impacting Shein and Temu orders 

Bad news for the many American citizens who like to bargain hunt on Chinese shopping platforms Shein and Temu. The US Postal Service has announced that it is suspending all inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong until further notice. The move comes after President Trump ended an exception that allows packages valued under $800 to be shipped to US customers tariff-free.

Update: The USPS has reversed its decision to suspend shipments from China and Hong Kong, just hours after initially announcing the move. The service stated that it is working closely with Customs and Border Protection to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs, aiming to minimize disruptions to package delivery.

The Trump administration implemented an additional 10% tariff on a range of products from China on Tuesday, leading to the Asian nation announcing retaliatory measures, including tariffs on US goods and an antitrust investigation into Google.

Trump's executive order also ended the "de minimis" exemption on import tariffs. The legal term describes the US waiver of standard customs procedures and tariffs on imported items worth less than $800 that are shipped to individuals. The US had one of the world's highest thresholds for this exemption: it is $169 in the UK and $156 in the EU.

The USPS said that letters and flats, defined as mail that measures up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) long or 3/4 inches (1.9 centimeters) thick, are not affected by the suspension. The postal service did not give an official reason for the move.

The impact of the suspension could be significant. US Customs and Border Protection said it processes an average of over four million de minimis imports each week, with the total volume of these shipments reaching over 1.36 billion in the fiscal 2024 year. Shipments entering the US under the exemption have increased by more than 600% over the last decade.

The provision covered around 67% of all US-bound shipments from China's mainland and Hong Kong. Shein will likely be heavily affected as it relies more on USPS for direct-to-consumer shipping from its home country.

Jacob Cooke, CEO of e-commerce marketing agency WPIC Marketing & Technologies, told The Independent that Temu will also be impacted, though to a lesser extent as it often ships bulk orders to the US before fulfilling them domestically.

US buyers of goods from Shein and Temu will likely experience disruption, cancellations, and delays to their parcels over the next couple of days, so customers may want to hold off on any purchases until the situation stabilizes.

Chinese companies are expected to turn to alternative shipping providers such as DHL, FedEx, and UPS for now. Ultimately, the extra costs will probably be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices.

De minimis shipments have been blamed for enabling illegal drugs, especially fentanyl, to enter the United States through the mail.

Fentanyl smuggling from China...Trump closes a loophole used by Shein and Temu.In the US, de minimis imports have existed since 1938. During the Obama administration, Congress quadrupled the exemption, which went from US$200 to US$800 per day – and its use exploded, driven by the popularization of Chinese websites.

The principle was to encourage competition and benefit consumers, especially low-income ones. But the facilitation was being criticized because it became a route for the smuggling of counterfeit products and raw materials to synthesize fentanyl, in addition to having offered a tax advantage to Chinese companies in their dispute with Amazon and other US retailers.

The number of packages delivered through this category rose from 637 million in 2020 to 1.36 billion in 2024. More than 10% of purchases from China entered the country through this tax loophole.

Purchases from China have been subject to greater scrutiny by authorities since last year, under the Biden administration – both to combat the entry of illegal products and to crack down on tax evasion.

mundophone