A short-lived pause on shipments from China and Hong Kong caught a lot of people off guard.
The U.S. Postal Service reversed course Wednesday morning, saying it will resume accepting inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong, just hours after it suspended service from those regions.
"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," the agency wrote in a notice posted to its website.
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are.
WATCH HERE
The USPS had announced late Tuesday that it would stop accepting parcels from China and Hong Kong Posts "until further notice."
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox with our News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP The announcement came on the same day that President Donald Trump's 10% tariff on all Chinese goods went into effect. The order also eliminated a popular trade loophole, known as de minimis.
It's existed since the 1930s, and it allows packages valued under $800 to enter the U.S. duty free. Plus, recipients in the U.S. can get up to $800 worth of merchandise per day without paying import taxes.
Recently, companies like Temu and Shein, both of which have links to China, have been able to use that loophole to boost business. They offer cheap apparel, household items and electronics.
Not all of their goods benefit from the provision, since they both have some warehouses in the United States. However, a U.S. House select committee found the two companies have used the loophole to likely ship hundreds of millions of packages to American shoppers each year.
