Update: The USPS announced early Wednesday morning it would resume its acceptance of parcels entering the United States from China and Hong Kong.
In a statement posted to the agency’s website, it shared the following message: “Effective February 5, 2025, the Postal Service will 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.”
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Neither agency immediately responded to Sourcing Journal’s requests for comment.
Late Tuesday evening, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) made an unexpected announcement—it’s halting all shipments from China and Hong Kong, effective immediately.
The mail carrier posted an “International Service Suspension Notice” saying that it will “temporarily suspend only international package acceptance of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong Posts until further notice.”
The news comes less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump hit China with new 10-percent duties on $450 billion worth of goods and a ban on de minimis treatment for any shipments subject to the tariffs.
It was not immediately clear whether USPS’ halt in service was connected to Trump’s executive order—or whether the move was in retaliation for China’s countermeasures against the U.S., which were announced by Beijing early Tuesday.
There are perhaps clues to be gained, however, from the targeted nature of the service suspension. The majority of inbound shipments originating in China come by ocean or air freight, not the mail system.
That means that de minimis shipments from China and Hong Kong—estimated to total in the millions per day—will be primarily impacted by the action. USPS said letters and flat mailers will not face interruptions in service.
Trump’s tariffs on China caused U.S. markets to shudder as shareholders unloaded stocks from Chinese e-commerce titans like Temu, which saw its share price fall 5.9 percent on Monday before rebounding the following day.
However, news of USPS’ suspension hit China during the morning hours on Wednesday, prompting the China Securities Index Company (CSI) to fall by double digits within minutes.
China-based e-commerce titan Alibaba extended its decline to 2.1 percent and JD.com, which has made big plays in the U.S. market both as an e-tailer and logistics player, slipped to -5.1 percent, according to reporting from Bloomberg.
