US Postal Service will ‘continue accepting’ parcels from China and Hong Kong in quick reversal

The US Postal Service said Wednesday it would ‘continue accepting’ parcels from China and Hong Kong, having said it would temporarily stop the day before.

The US Postal Service has reversed its position on parcels from China and Hong Kong, saying it will continue accepting them.

It had announced Tuesday evening it was temporarily suspending handling these parcels, in a move that stood to hurt Chinese e-commerce retailers.

USPS said on Wednesday it would “continue accepting all international inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong Posts.”

“The USPS and Customs and Border Protection are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery,” it added.

The reversal came just 12 hours after the announcement it would stop handling the parcels.

When it announced the suspension, which did not apply to letters or flat mail, it did not give a specific reason.

It came after President Donald Trump imposed a new 10% tariff on all goods imported from China and ended the de minimis exemption that allowed packages worth less than $800, bound for individual consumers, to avoid tariffs.

Chinese e-commerce retailers like Shein and Temu stood to lose from the decision.

One economist noted Tuesday that China and Hong Kong accounted for 67% of packages entering the US under the de minimis exemption between 2018 and 2021.

Temu’s parent company, PDD Holdings, was down in premarket trading on the Nasdaq Wednesday morning before the USPS announced it would resume handling parcels.