Hong Kong Suspends Parcel Shipments to the U.S.... "Unreasonable Harassment by the U.S."

The Hongkong Post has announced that it will no longer accept parcels destined for the United States in response to the U.S. ending its small parcel duty-free policy.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 16th, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region stated, "The U.S. government declared that from May 2, the duty-free policy for cargo from Hong Kong to the U.S. will be abolished," adding, "The U.S. harassment is unreasonable and an abuse of tariffs."

The Hong Kong government explained that it will stop accepting regular mail transported by sea starting from that day, and air mail will no longer be accepted from the 27th of this month. It further stated, "Hong Kong citizens sending goods to the U.S. should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable costs due to U.S. harassment," adding, "Mail containing only documents without cargo will not be affected."

This measure is Hong Kong's counteraction following the escalation of the U.S.-China trade war, where the Donald Trump administration decided to abolish duty-free benefits for small parcels sent from China and Hong Kong and raise tariff rates to 120%.

Regarding this, The New York Times (NYT) reported, "Hong Kong is a separate customs territory guaranteed a certain level of autonomy after its return to China, positioning itself as an intermediary zone between China and the U.S.," and added, "Recently, Hong Kong officials have increasingly expressed their dissatisfaction publicly toward the Trump administration, which views them as no different from mainland China." It also noted, "Hong Kong is in a situation where it is being pulled toward China by the Trump administration's tariff measures."