Hongkong Post announced yesterday that they will stop sending parcels with goods to the United States. Surface mail, which goes by land or sea, is suspended right away. Air mail will stop from 27 April. Only letters and documents without anything inside can still be sent. This only affects mail from Hong Kong to the US. Mail coming from the US is not affected.
The decision comes after the US said it will end duty-free treatment for packages from Hong Kong and increase tariffs starting 2 May. Hongkong Post called the move unfair and said it will not help collect any US tariffs. Parcels that have already been posted but not yet shipped will be returned and refunded, starting 22 April.
Hongkong post also mentioned that “For sending items to the US, the public in Hong Kong should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the US’s unreasonable and bullying acts. Other postal items containing documents only without goods will not be affected.”.
This isn’t the first disruption. In February, the US Postal Service suddenly stopped accepting parcels from Hong Kong and mainland China, then reversed the decision just one day later. The rising costs and sudden rule changes are part of a growing trade and postal clash between the two sides, with regular people and small businesses caught in the middle.
Header Image Credit: LN9267 via Wikimedia Commons
