The United States Postal Service (USPS) has reversed its decision to refuse inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong and is now accepting parcels bound for the US from China.
This has emerged amidst a rapidly changing situation where other operators are reportedly suspending their services to the US.
The USPS announced on February 4 that it would cease accepting inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong but the following morning updated its statement, noting that "the Postal Service will continue accepting all international inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong Posts".
It added that the USPS and Customs, as well as Border Protection, were collaborating to implement an efficient collection system for the new China tariffs to minimise disruption to package delivery.
News reports have since indicated that other operators have suspended their US-bound parcel services from China and Hong Kong.
This follows President Trump's suspension of the exemption for de minimis (below a certain amount) goods and growing concerns about the potential strain on US Customs & Border Protection.
Jagath Narayan, CEO of online e-commerce fulfilment platform Odoro, responded to USPS’s notice of suspension on LinkedIn, linking the two events and stating that the de minimis ban on inbound parcels from China was now taking effect.
He suggested that this would significantly impact the dropship model used by several Shopify stores, as well as the direct-from-China fulfilment model employed by Temu and Shein.
The Trump administration halted access to Section 321 customs de minimis entry processes for shipments under $800 through a series of executive orders.
These included imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico (which were subsequently suspended) and 10% tariffs on China.
Brian Whitlock, a senior analyst at tech research and consulting firm Gartner, warned that the sudden withdrawal of section 321 for all three countries would affect China most, while Mexico and Canada would be the least prepared, potentially putting pressure on supply chains from these two countries.
However, Trump’s reversal regarding his two neighbours also suspended his plan to remove their access to de minimis, providing some respite, which would be particularly welcome for Mexico, given its increasing presence in US e-commerce.
Whitlock questioned whether US Customs could handle the expected volumes, particularly given the immediacy of the change.
He suspected that Chinese e-commerce players would have been prepared for this development, considering several Bills going through Congress intended to remove Chinese access to de minimis, so even if they were caught off guard, they would be ready.
The numbers are indeed remarkable: in 2023, the CBP processed approximately four million de minimis shipments a day, equating to one billion over the year, valued at $50 billion.
This was a significant increase from the 2.8 million daily shipments in 2022. Of those one billion parcels, 88% arrived by air, via international mail, express courier services including DHL, FedEx, and UPS, as well as within the cargo holds of passenger flights.
Whitlock stated that while it was clear that the CBP might have prepared for the changes, considering they were discussing a potential 2.5 million additional shipments a day requiring formal entry, they would likely find out very quickly.
When asked whether he foresaw goods being waved through customs to avoid potential mass congestion, Whitlock responded that he did not.
