Problem for Shein and Temu: US Post no longer accepts parcels from China
Anyone expecting a parcel or package from China in the US is empty-handed for now. The post office there completely stopped accepting them.
Automatic parcel sorting in Chengdu, China
(Image: B.Zhou/Shutterstock.com)
The United States Postal Service will no longer accept and deliver packages and parcels from China and Hong Kong until further notice. This was announced by the United States Postal Service on Tuesday and explained that this would be implemented with immediate effect. A reason for the move was not given when asked, writes the news agency dpa. It is likely that the move is related to the imposition of additional tariffs of ten percent on goods from China, where a general exemption for parcels with a value of less than 800 US dollars has also been lifted.
Shein and Temu benefited from the exemption
In recent years, Chinese online retailers such as Shein and Temu in particular have benefited from this de minimis exemption for low-cost parcels, meaning that their deliveries did not have to pass through customs. The news agency Reuters reports that the two online retailers alone were recently responsible for around 30 percent of all parcels and packages sent to the USA. In addition, almost all parcels that fall under the de minimis exception came from China. According to one analyst, this amounts to around four million packages per day, and the US Postal Service would first have to clarify how the customs duties are to be levied on them.
On the weekend, Donald Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent tariff on imports from China. However, while the two US neighbors were able to agree on a grace period with the new US president, the regulation for imports from China has come into force. Wired reports on a logistics company from Canada, two of whose trucks entering the USA were stopped at the border. A third was allowed through after all shipments from China were removed. Reuters also quotes the assessment that the imposition of tariffs on small posters should not harm Shein and Temu's business significantly because they would still be cheap enough.
(mho)