Tensions between the US and China have soared in recent days as the world's two largest economies slapped a volley of tariffs on each others' imports, hitting hundreds of billions of dollars in trade.
As part of Trump's tariffs -- which he enacted citing drug trafficking concerns -- the United States on Tuesday scrapped a duty-free exemption for low-value packages.
The "de minimis" exemption allows goods valued at $800 or below to enter the United States without paying duties or certain taxes, but it has faced scrutiny due to a surge in shipments in recent years.
The US Customs and Border Protection agency said last month that exemption shipments were worth over $1.36 billion in 2024, creating challenges for its enforcement of trade laws, health and safety requirements, intellectual property rights, and consumer protection rules.
US officials have pointed to the growth of Chinese-founded online retailers Shein and Temu as a key factor behind the increase -- and Tuesday's halt threatened major delays to parcels from both companies from entering the country.
The developments at the USPS came as the latest data showed the US trade deficit swelled last year to its second-largest on record, a metric that Trump has used in the past to justify trade battles with China and others.
In an apparent climbdown, the USPS on Wednesday morning said 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, without further details.
Beijing had responded with fury to the move, accusing the United States of "politicizing trade and economic issues and using them as tools."
Vowing to "take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian accused Washington of "unreasonable suppression."
AFP has reached out to Shein and Temu for comment.
Other retailers such as Amazon might also be impacted by the "de minimis" removal.
The low-cost retailers took another hit Wednesday as the European Commission announced it would seek to impose new fees on e-commerce imports -- the bulk of which come from China.
The measures are part of efforts to tackle a surge of "harmful" products into the bloc.
- Tariff standoff -
Tuesday saw Beijing say it would impose levies on imports of US energy, vehicles and equipment in a return salvo minutes after Trump's threatened tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect.
A day earlier, Trump suspended duties on Mexico and Canada for a month after both countries vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and the crossing of undocumented migrants into the United States.
Beijing's moves hit roughly $20 billion worth of US goods per year -- roughly 12 percent of total American imports into China, according to calculations by Capital Economics.
But their impact is a far cry from US tariffs announced over the weekend, which will affect some $450 billion worth of goods.
Although earlier it appeared that US parcels could still be sent from Macau, by Wednesday evening the semi-autonomous Chinese city's post office announced that its service was also suspended.
Trump had signalled earlier that the talks with Xi could take place early this week, but addressing reporters at the White House Tuesday afternoon, he said he was in "no rush."
EU seeks new import fee on e-commerce packages
Brussels, Belgium (AFP) Feb 5, 2025 -
The European Commission announced Wednesday it would seek to impose new fees on e-commerce imports, as part of efforts to tackle a surge of "harmful" products into the bloc -- the bulk of them from China.
The EU action came as the US Postal Service (USPS) briefly suspended inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong, a move affecting low-cost platforms Temu and Shein -- but the commission said the two actions were "not coordinated".
Announcing the steps at a press conference in Brussels, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said the bloc had seen the number of imported e-commerce parcels double from 2023 to 2024, to reach 12 million a day.
"Many of those products have been found to be unsafe, counterfeit or even dangerous," she said.
The commission called on EU lawmakers and member states to "consider" a handling fee on e-commerce parcels imported directly to consumers, to address the "costs of supervising compliance" with EU rules.
The move "aims to address growing concerns about the impact of those products on the health and safety of European consumers," Virkkunen said.
"It also looks into the significant environmental and climate damage caused by those shipments, and also the unlevel playing field which rogue traders create for our SMEs and businesses."
Around 90 percent of the packages concerned come from China, according to the commission, many of them sold by booming online giants Shein and Temu.
Both Chinese-founded platforms are suspected by Brussels of not doing enough to prevent the sale of products that do not meet European standards.
- Duty exemptions -
The commission also confirmed the launch of an investigation into Shein for not abiding by the bloc's consumer protection rules.
"Any business that wants to benefit from our market of almost 450 million consumers should play by the rules," said the EU's consumer protection chief, Michael McGrath.
Brussels is coordinating the investigation with the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, which brings together the competent authorities of the bloc's 27 member states.
If Shein is found guilty it risks being fined.
Shein said it would "engage" its partners at EU and national government-level to "study these recommendations."
"We welcome efforts that enhance trust and safety for European consumers when shopping online," the company said.
The commission had also opened an investigation in October against Temu, which sells a vast array of goods at low costs.
McGrath said up to 96 percent of products tested and sold on the targeted platforms were "not fully compliant with our rules and our safety standards."
"The consequences can be real and can be very, very serious," he said -- citing examples like a baby's pacifier that could come apart and choke the child, or a light fitting that could cause an electric shock.
He promised a number of EU actions together with national authorities including "mystery shopping, testing activities, sweeps and controls to detect and recall dangerous products from the market in a more efficient way."
As well as the move to impose parcel handling fees, the commission also called for rapid implementation of previous proposals taken to level the playing field online, including removing the duty exemption for parcels worth less than 150 euros.
The USPS on Tuesday scrapped a duty-free exemption for low-value packages and suspended parcel imports from China over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
But that was quickly reversed on Wednesday as the postal service said it would keep accepting packages after fears the move could spark major trade disruptions.
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