The United States has suspended the cancellation of the duty-free policy for small parcels from China

The US tariff measures against China have turned again, and the US will temporarily allow Chinese small parcels to continue to enjoy duty-free treatment, leaving a short buffer period for Chinese cross-border e-commerce companies such as Temu and Xiyin.

According to Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday (February 7) that will temporarily maintain the duty-free treatment enjoyed by low-priced Chinese parcels until "a sound and efficient system is established to fully collect tariffs".

Trump signed an executive order on February 1, local time, announcing a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports from February 4, while repealing the "de minimis exception".

Under this system, goods worth less than $800 enter the United States without customs inspections or taxes.

Chinese cross-border e-commerce companies such as Temu, Xiyin and Alibaba's AliExpress have used this mechanism in the past to sell low-cost products to US consumers and quickly rise in the US market.

The general analysis believes that the withdrawal of the minimum exemption mechanism will deal a heavy blow to these cross-border e-commerce.

However, the withdrawal of the minimum exemption mechanism also means that U.S. customs officials must carefully inspect every package that enters the country, placing a significant burden on customs and postal services.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the number of packages applying for a minimum exemption from tax treatment has skyrocketed from 139 million in fiscal year 2015 to nearly 1.4 billion in fiscal year 2024.

In a statement, the Postal Service said it is currently working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to establish a new mechanism for efficient collection of tariffs on China "to ensure minimal impact on package delivery."

But Reuters reported that the US Postal Service's erratic move has caused a huge backlog in customs clearance at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), even affecting packages that have already paid duties.

"If you're in the Global e-commerce business, Tuesday through Friday is a pretty exciting day," said John Losin, CEO of e-commerce and global supply chain firm Cirrus Global Advisors.

Neil van der Wo, chief air freight officer at Xeneta, a freight pricing platform, said Xiyan and Temu together move about 9,000 metric tons of cargo a day to the United States, equivalent to 88 fully loaded Boeing 777 freighters. "It is unrealistic to suddenly impose a ban on such a large volume of air transport, so the suspension of the executive order on minimum exemptions is not surprising."