特朗普提高關稅後，香港暫停寄往美國的郵政服務

 Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Hong Kong suspends postal service to the US after Trump’s tariff hikes

Chris Lau, CNN

Wed, April 16, 2025 at 1:19 a.m. PDT·3 min read

Hong Kong’s postal service will stop handling packages coming from or going to the United States, in the latest retaliatory move amid an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing.

In a statement published Wednesday announcing the decision, the government of Hong Kong cited US President Donald Trump’s decision last week to eliminate the so-called de minimis exception for items posted from the city to the US. The exemption applied to international shipments worth $800 or less entering the US.

“The US is unreasonable, bullying and imposing tariffs abusively,” the government said in the statement. “The public in Hong Kong should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the US’s unreasonable and bullying acts.”

The government said the postal service, Hongkong Post, will stop accepting packages transported by sea with immediate effect and stop taking airborne packages starting from April 27. Other postal items containing only documents, for example letters, will not be affected.

The retaliatory move means companies and individuals in Hong Kong will have to pay private couriers such as FedEx and DHL to deliver packages, further driving up costs for consumers on top of US levies.

A DHL spokesman told CNN that it will continue to process shipments to the US, monitor the situation and work with customers to help them keep up with latest changes.

CNN has reached out to FedEx and UPS for comment.

Trump signed an executive order earlier this month raising tariffs on goods worth $800 or less sent from China, including Hong Kong, arguing it was being used by retailers to avoid import taxes and customs inspections.

Initially, the exemption was set to expire and those goods were set to face tariffs of 30% on May 2. But Trump’s latest executive order last week hiked the rates to 120% (or a “per postal item” cost of $100 starting May 2, which goes up to $200 on June 1).

Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese city, has long been known as a free and open international trading port, which charges minimal import levies and no sales tax. It previously had a special trading status with the US, which allowed goods from the city to be subject to lower tariffs and a customs process separate to that for goods from mainland China.

Trump revoked the special trade status in 2020 during his first administration, voicing concerns over the city’s deteriorating freedom and autonomy as Beijing cracked down on protests and imposed a sweeping national security law on the financial hub.

As tensions flare between Washington and Beijing, Hong Kong is increasingly caught in the crossfire. Exports from Hong Kong are now subject to the same 145% tariff the Trump administration has slapped on imports from China, even though the city has decided not to follow Beijing’s lead in retaliating with a 125% levy on American imports.

Hong Kong’s leader John Lee, who was selected for the job by a largely government-appointed, pro-Beijing committee, joined Chinese officials on Tuesday to hit back at Washington with a stern rebuttal.

“The United States’ reckless crackdown on China and Hong Kong has become a frenzy,” he said in a televised address during a national security event.

“They use trade as a weapon to impose a so-called reciprocal tariff of 145% on Hong Kong … This not only shows that the US is full of fallacies but also demonstrates the true face of the US’ self-proclaimed hegemony,” he said.

The Hong Kong chief executive said the city intends to file a complaint to the World Trade Organization against the US tariffs. China says it has already filed a complaint with the world trade body, saying the measures violate WTO rules.

Translation

特朗普提高關稅後，香港暫停寄往美國的郵政服務

香港郵政將停止處理來自或發送到美國的包裹，這是華盛頓和北京之間不斷升級的貿易戰中的最新報復性舉措。

香港政府在周三發布的聲明中宣布了這一決定，並提及美國總統特朗普上週的決定，即取消從香港郵寄到美國的物品的所謂最低限度豁免。該豁免適用於進入美國的價值 800 美元或以下的國際貨物。

政府在聲明中表示： “美國無理取鬧、欺凌並濫用關稅”; “香港民眾應該做好因美國不合理和欺凌行為而支付高昂且不合理費用的準備。”

政府表示，香港郵政即日起停止接收經海上運輸的包裹，並於4月27日起停止接收空運包裹。其他僅載有文件的郵件，例如信件，則不受影響。

這項報復性舉措意味著香港的企業和個人將不得不向聯邦快遞和DHL等私人快遞公司支付包裹遞送費用，這將在美國稅之上,進一步推高消費者的費用。

DHL 發言人告訴 CNN，該公司將繼續處理發往美國的貨物，監控情況並與客戶合作，幫助他們了解最新變化。

CNN 已聯繫聯邦快遞和 UPS 徵求意見評論。

特朗普本月稍早簽署了一項行政命令，提高從中國（包括香港）出口的價值 800 美元或以下商品的關稅，稱零售商利用這些商品來逃避進口稅和海關檢查。

最初，豁免期將於 5 月 2 日到期，之後這些商品將面臨 30% 的關稅。但特朗普上週的最新行政命令將稅率提高至 120%（即從 5 月 2 日起「每件郵件」的用費為 100 美元，從6 月 1 日上漲至 200 美元）。

香港是中國的半自治城市，長期以來一直被稱為自由開放的國際貿易港口，徵收低進口稅，並且不徵收銷售稅。香港先前受美國給與特殊貿易地位，這使得香港的商品可以享受較低的關稅，且海關程序與中國大陸的商品不同。

特朗普在 2020 年在其第一屆政府任期內取消了香港的特殊貿易地位，對香港的自由和自治狀況惡化表示擔憂，因為北京方面鎮壓抗議活動，並對這金融中心實施了全面的國家安全法。

隨著華盛頓和北京之間的緊張局勢加劇，香港無法避免地受到影響。儘管香港決定不效仿北京對美國進口產品徵收 125% 的報復性關稅，但香港的出口產品目前仍需繳納給特朗普政府對中國進口產品徵收的 145% 的關稅。

香港特首李家超是由一個主要由政府任命的親北京委員會選出的，他於週二與中國官員一起對華盛頓進行了嚴厲回擊。

他在一次國家安全活動電視演講中表示： “美國對中國和香港的不計後果的打壓已經達到了瘋狂的程度。”

他說： “他們以貿易為武器，對香港徵收145%的所謂互惠關稅……這不僅表明美國滿嘴謬論，也暴露了美國自稱霸權的真面目。”

香港特首表示，香港打算就美國的關稅向世界貿易組織提出申訴。中國表示已向世界貿易組織提出申訴，稱這些措施違反了世貿組織規則。

So, Hong Kong’s postal service will stop handling packages coming from or going to the United States, in the latest retaliatory move amid an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing. Hong Kong government’s move means companies and individuals in Hong Kong will have to pay private couriers such as FedEx and DHL to deliver packages.  Apparently, some trading companies in Hong Kong will be affected.