Update 2/5/25 8:33am: BBC reports that the US Postal Service has resumed accepting parcels from mainland China and Hong Kong after a brief suspension following Donald Trump's new rules that closed a tax loophole for packages worth $800 or less.
If you're waiting for a package from AliExpress, Temu, or any other parcel from China, don't expect it anytime soon. The U.S. Postal Service just announced it will not accept any packages coming into the United States from China and Hong Kong, at least for the time being. The "service disruption" does not include letters and flat mail, which will still be received.
The announcement — which impacts around 3 million packages a day — came yesterday, hours after Donald Trump's 10% tariff on goods from China kicked in. From The New York Times:
Mr. Trump ordered on Saturday that all goods leaving China starting on Tuesday must follow the rules for higher-value shipments. Until the change, parcels worth up to $800 apiece were not required to include detailed information on their contents and were not subject to tariffs.
The United States imports close to four million of such lower-value parcels a day with little or no customs inspection and no duties collected — with most of them coming from China.
The Trump administration and other critics have contended that allowing these packages into the United States has created a conduit for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, and related supplies to enter the United States.
The new rules also apply to FedEx and UPS, but as of this writing, neither company has yet announced their responses.
Previously: Watch MAGA vendor's excitement fade as he learns how Trump's tariffs affect his business