Hong Kong’s postal service announced it would halt the processing of packages being shipped to or arriving from the U.S.
The decision comes after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would eliminate the De Minimis Tax Exemption, a law that permitted shipments worth less than $800 to enter the country without any taxes or additional fees.
The region’s postal service, HongKong Post, announced the decision in a press release early Wednesday morning, local time. In addition to the De Minimis Exemption, they cited increased tariffs overall and accused the U.S. of “bullying” and being “abusive.” It is the latest move in the back-and-forth actions between the U.S. and China over economic disagreements and a looming trade war.
”The Government of the United States (US) announced earlier that it would eliminate the duty-free de minimis treatment for postal items despatched from Hong Kong to the US and increase the tariffs for postal items containing goods to the US starting from May 2,” read the release. “The US is unreasonable, bullying and imposing tariffs abusively. Hongkong Post will definitely not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the US and will suspend the acceptance of postal items containing goods destined to the US.”
Shipments considered “surface mail” being sent to the U.S. are suspended effective April 16, according to the release. The suspension of “air postal items containing goods” being sent to the U.S. will commence on April 27.
HongKong Post also explained the process of any shipments that had previously been arranged to go to the U.S.
“Where senders have posted surface postal items containing goods that have not yet been shipped to the US, Hongkong Post will contact the senders to arrange for return of items and postage refund starting from April 22,” noted the release.
People will still be allowed to send items to the U.S. from the country. However, they will now be forced to use alternative methods such as FedEx or other courier companies. The postal service also warned of the excessively high shipping costs involved in sending packages to the U.S.
“For sending items to the US, the public in Hong Kong should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the US’s unreasonable and bullying acts,” read HongKong Post’s statement.
The policy decision will affect only shipments containing goods. Any packages being shipped to the U.S. that contain just documents will continue uninterrupted, noted the release.
