USPS Halts All Inbound Packages from China Effective Immediately

The United States Postal Service announced on Tuesday that the agency would suspend intake of international packages shipped from China and Hong Kong.

A notice d on the Postal Service website said that “effective Feb. 4, the Postal Service will temporarily suspend only international package acceptance of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong Posts until further notice.”

The announcement made clear, however, that the “flow of letters and flats from China and Hong Kong will not be impacted.”

The move comes after President Donald Trump imposed a new round of tariffs on China, as well as Canada and Mexico, on Saturday.

The move is an attempt to address the “threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl.”

China faces a 10 percent tariff on imports into the United States.

The new fee went into effect on Tuesday.

The United States imports some three million parcels from China every day, but does not collect duties and conducts minimal screening, according to a report from The New York Times.

The executive order from Saturday said that many Chinese companies “go to great lengths to evade law enforcement and hide illicit substances in the flow of legitimate commerce.”

“Some of the techniques employed by these PRC-based companies to conceal the true contents of the parcels and the identity of the distributors include the use of re-shippers in the United States, false invoices, fraudulent postage, and deceptive packaging,” the order asserted.

The low-value parcels once subject to the de minimis rule, under which no tariffs were required, now face the new 10 percent tariff, as well as the other various tariffs that may apply depending on their relevant product categories, according to the Times.

Representatives for the Postal Service declined to comment to Axios on whether the freeze on Chinese packages was related to the new round of tariffs.

Though Mexico and Canada quickly agreed to increase border security and address the flow of fentanyl into the United States following the tariff order from Trump, the Chinese government imposed a new 15 percent tariff on American coal and liquefied natural gas.

China also implemented a 10 percent tariff on American crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement cars, and pickup trucks.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.