Expect delays Americans likely to pay more, wait longer for online orders from China US now taxing every little cheap online order from China. Ashley Belanger Feb 5, 2025 1:13 pm | 5 Credit: UCG / Contributor | Universal Images Group Credit: UCG / Contributor | Universal Images Group Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreIt's been a confusing 24 hours at the US Postal Service (USPS) after the Trump administration imposed new tariffs on China that eliminated a loophole allowing low-value Chinese packages into the US duty-free.On Tuesday, the USPS abruptly stopped accepting all inbound packages from Hong Kong and China. This briefly halted personal shipments from China, as well as online deliveries from China-based companies. That included blocking orders from online marketplaces increasingly popular with Americans like Alibaba, Temu, and Shein, as well as China-based retailers selling cheap goods on Amazon.But by Wednesday morning, the USPS reversed the temporary policy, posting an international service notice clarifying that the USPS and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) "are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery.""Least" is doing a lot of work in that statement, as it remains unclear how many deliveries could still be disrupted by USPS and CBP's inspection process change.According to Wired, the e-commerce industry was immediately "thrown into chaos" by the USPS changes. One Canadian trucking company owner, identified only as Daniel, told Wired that many trucks were turned away at the US border yesterday, with his own trucks sometimes only passing through if drivers agreed to dump all packages from China.Sorting through "thousands of small parcels" to find the China shipments was "arduous," Daniel noted, but CBP appeared intent on monitoring every truck."They were actually going through the trucks and randomly checking the packages," Daniel told Wired.Trump has ordered CBP to check shipments for illegal drugs, accusing China and other trade partners of flooding the US with fentanyl. CBP reported that the US was bombarded with more than 1.36 billion low-value shipments last year, making it harder to detect illicit shipments. That's nearly 10 times more packages exploiting the "de minimis" loophole than in 2015. In 2024, Temu and Shein together shipped an estimated 30 percent of packages that entered the US daily, The Washington Post reported.Previously, platforms paid no extra costs on those shipments if they were valued below $800. But now, Chinese importers will be subject to a regular 16 percent tariff, a 7.5 percent Section 301 duty specifically for goods from China, and the latest 10 percent tariff, Wired noted. And experts have no idea yet how those taxes will impact the prices of Chinese goods shipped to the US.Everybody caught off guard by sudden USPS changeAmericans who love spinning wheels on sites like Temu for deals may be in for a rude awakening, as may shoppers who considered platforms like Temu a cheaper alternative to Amazon.According to Modern Retail, a media brand tracking the latest trends in the retail industry, part of the problem overwhelming CBP and USPS could even be savvy online shoppers ordering the same item from both Amazon and a rival Chinese platform, trying to get the best of both worlds. Through the reported scheme, shoppers figured out that they can get items faster through Amazon but cheaper through Chinese platforms, so they simply return the item arriving later from the Chinese platform to Amazon, securing a refund at the higher price and enjoying more savings.As the number of incoming packages continued to spike, officials have increasingly warned that something must be done to stop Chinese platforms like Temu and Alibaba from exploiting the de minimis loophole and "outmaneuvering regulators to grow a dominant US market presence."Trump's sudden removal of the loophole for China followed through on a Biden administration effort to curb de minimis imports, which the Post noted would have occurred after a weeks-long rule-making process. But Trump's move caught many parties off guardChinese platforms, their customers, and US customs officials who weren't prepared to implement new screening processes.The USPS says it will be working with CBP to screen packages, collect new tariffs, and monitor every inbound package, as Americans will likely continue to order cheap goods from China as long as they remain cheap.Kate Muth, executive director of the International Mailers Advisory Group, which represents shippers and logistics firms, told the Post that the halt on inbound packages from China triggered an "expectation" that "youll be paying more as a consumer, and it may take a little longer to reach you," but until the screening process is finalized, the threat of increased prices and delays seemingly still looms. One financial analyst, Yin Lam, warned in a CNBC report that checking every package "is difficult" and "will take time," posing a "significant challenge" for the USPS and CBP.If Chinese sellers decide to raise prices to cover the new costs of shipping goods into the USor if deliveries simply take too longAmericans may stop using any platforms offering the same item at a potentially similar cost that could arrive sooner from Amazon.Both Temu and Shein have already shifted their business models to keep more inventory in the US, but so far, they have not commented on the potential impacts of new tariffs on their platforms.China urges Trump to stop politicizing tradeChina has responded to tariffs by launching investigations into Google, Nvidia, and, reportedly, Apple. Additionally, China has threatened to sue the US through the World Trade Organization. But China seems to already be growing tired of the tit-for-tat in the escalating US-China trade war. Lin Jian, a spokesman for Chinas Foreign Ministry, promised this week to defend Chinese businesses and urged Trump to "stop politicizing economic and trade issues.""China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies," he said.On Tuesday, Rep. Jason T. Smith (R-Mo.), the House Ways and Means Committee chair, issued a statement defending restricting Chinese platforms from exploiting the de minimis rule."The Ways and Means Committee has spent significant time investigating the use of de minimis by China and other nations to undermine our trade enforcement tariffs and skirt compliance with US law," Smith said. "The effect of increased abuse of the de minimis privilege has been to deny the US Government collection of billions of dollars in additional revenues while unfairly disadvantaging American manufacturers."But the top Democrat on Smith's committee, Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), told the Post that Congress should be driving trade policy to ensure changes aren't rushed without adequate safeguards."The one consistency of Trumps trade war is the lack of foresight," Neal said. "This would be easily avoidable if anyone knew what they were doing and proves yet again why our trade policy must come from the Congress."Ram Ben Tzion, cofounder and CEO of a digital shipment vetting platform called Publican, told Wired that for the shipping industry watching and waiting to see what happens next, "this is the administrations version of moving fast and breaking things."Ashley BelangerSenior Policy ReporterAshley BelangerSenior Policy Reporter Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. She is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience. 5 Comments