Hong Kong’s postal service announced it would halt the processing of packages being shipped to or arriving from the United States.
The decision comes after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would eliminate the de minimis tax exemption, a law that permitted shipments worth under $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, it cited increased tariffs as a reason for the change and accused the U.S. of “bullying” and being “abusive.” It is the latest move in the back and forth between the U.S. and China over economic disagreements and a looming trade war.
”The Government of the United States (U.S.) announced earlier that it would eliminate the duty-free de minimis treatment for postal items dispatched from Hong Kong to the U.S. and increase the tariffs for postal items containing goods to the U.S. starting from May 2,” the release read. “The U.S. is unreasonable, bullying and imposing tariffs abusively. Hongkong Post will definitely not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the U.S. and will suspend the acceptance of postal items containing goods destined to the U.S.”
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 U.S., Hongkong Post will contact the senders to arrange for return of items and postage refund starting from April 22,” the release noted.
People will still be allowed to send items to the U.S. from Hong Kong. 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.
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“For sending items to the U.S., the public in Hong Kong should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the U.S.’s unreasonable and bullying acts,” Hongkong Post’s statement read.
The policy decision will affect only shipments containing goods. Any packages being shipped to the U.S. that contain just documents will continue uninterrupted.
