The full scale of the crisis caused by President Trump’s suspension of de minimis exemptions for Chinese packages is now apparent, says international delivery expert Parcelhero. There was widespread disruption to US Customs parcel deliveries and e-commerce exporters should brace for another round.

During the first weekend in February, Trump signed orders ditching the de minimis threshold on parcels arriving from China. This meant items valued at under $800 which had previously not incurred any duties or taxes were now liable.

The change was implemented with just over 48 hours’ notice and the result was Customs chaos, a temporary suspension of all US Postal Service (USPS) parcel deliveries from China and some hefty, unexpected bills for US consumers.

As a result of the escalating mayhem, Trump quietly signed an order on the following Wednesday to pause the de minimis suspension, which took effect on Friday February 7th.

Even so, Parcelhero says the week-long confusion created issues that are still causing problems today and this is likely to be only a temporary reprieve while new measures are put into place.

 “President Trump’s decision to use tariffs as a tool to achieve both economic and political objectives is undoubtedly disruptive to trade,” says Parcelhero’s head of consumer research David Jinks. “His decision to end the de minimis threshold on packages from China has undoubtedly created the biggest disruption so far. The ensuing chaos revealed that tariffs are a complex weapon to wield and that the US needs to rethink how it integrates new tariffs with its Customs procedures.

“Customs at New York’s JFK Airport had to put all packages from China on hold and they were so backed up that even those goods on which duties had been paid became stuck, according to the US news agency Reuters. US Customs and Border Protection, which has the job of screening e-commerce packages and collecting duties on them, felt compelled to hold an emergency meeting with logistics professionals to discuss the status of more than a million packages reportedly piling up at JFK as the new measures took effect.”

JFK handles around 60 million de minimis e-commerce packages annually.

USPS parcel services were also severely impacted. It was forced to temporarily stop accepting packages from China and Hong Kong entirely as it sought to adapt to the new requirements.

“Around four million parcels arrive in the US every day and the sudden need to process them differently and collect new duties looks to have overloaded Customs and postal systems,” Jinks explains. “Additionally, Chinese companies such as Shein and Temu halted some air cargo flights to America, invoking force majeure to cancel agreements without penalties. This meant delays for US shoppers waiting for items previously purchased from China.”

During the week-long disruption, many Americans did actually pay the new duties before the de minimis threshold was reintroduced and there is now debate over whether they should be refunded this money.

“The current suspension of Trump’s new measures is unlikely to last long,” says Jinks. “His repeal stated that the ban on de minimis parcels from China will be reimposed once adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue.

“That is slight acknowledgement of the upheaval caused but still bodes ill for anyone looking to send packages to the US. The eventual cancellation of de minimis means the more than one billion small-value e-commerce packages that arrive annually in the US directly from China will require additional information and duties, adding time and cost.

“Trump’s aborted China changes are far from being his only planned tariff reforms. The UK Government has been caught on the hop by his latest decision to potentially impose retaliatory tariffs on countries that place VAT on US goods. He is also considering a new, separate tariff on cars. Previously, it had been thought that the US wouldn’t foist new tariffs on UK products because the US and UK’s trade balance is near parity.”

www.parcelhero.com