The Hong Kong Postal Service will stop handling shipments coming from or going to, the United States, in response to the executive order signed by President Trump, which eliminates customs exemptions for parcels worth less than $800 from China and Hong Kong itself.
“The US is unreasonable, bullying and imposing tariffs abusively,” the local government said. “The public in Hong Kong should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the US’s unreasonable and bullying acts.”
The Hongkong Post, therefore, will stop accepting regular mail of U.S.-bound items with immediate effect, and airmail starting April 27. Companies as well as local citizens will have to pay private couriers such as FedEx and DHL for their deliveries.
Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order blocking the customs exemption for small packages from China and the Special Administrative Region. According to the president, in fact, local retailers were taking advantage of the so-called “de minimis” clause to rake in tariffs and customs inspections.
Initially, the exemption was set to expire and these goods were to be subject to 30% tariffs. But Trump’s latest executive order raised the tariffs to 120 percent.
Hong Kong has long been known as an international trading port, charging minimal import taxes and no sales tax. It previously enjoyed a special trade status with the United States, which allowed goods from the city to be subject to lower tariffs and a separate customs process from products from mainland China.
Trump revoked that trade status in 2020, during his first term, expressing concern about the city’s deteriorating freedom and autonomy.
Today, imports from Hong Kong are subject to the same 145 percent tariff that the Trump administration has imposed on imports from China.
“The United States’ reckless crackdown on China and Hong Kong has become a frenzy,” said local executive leader John Lee, “They use trade as a weapon to impose a so-called reciprocal tariff of 145% on Hong Kong… This not only shows that the US is full of fallacies but also demonstrates the true face of the US’ self-proclaimed hegemony”.
