Camille Naredo

The Chinese flag is pictured in front of the facade of the Chinese embassy in Berlin on April 22, 2024. John Macdougall, AFP/File

The Chinese flag is pictured in front of the facade of the Chinese embassy in Berlin on April 22, 2024.

Article (news)

CHINA

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1738763187712111324_china flag.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="The Chinese flag is pictured in front of the facade of the Chinese embassy in Berlin on April 22, 2024. John Macdougall, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Chinese flag is pictured in front of the facade of the Chinese embassy in Berlin on April 22, 2024. <em>John Macdougall, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>BEIJING, China -- Beijing accused the United States Wednesday of &quot;suppression&quot; after its postal service said it was suspending parcels from China and Hong Kong, a move that could hit e-commerce giants Temu and Shein.</p><p>Tensions between the US and China have soared in recent days as the world&#x27;s two largest economies slapped a volley of tariffs on each others&#x27; imports, hitting hundreds of billions of dollars in trade.</p><p>On Tuesday, the US Postal Service (USPS) also scrapped a duty-free exemption for low-value packages.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/5/us-postal-service-suspends-incoming-packages-from-china-hong-kong-1418">READ: US Postal Service suspends incoming packages from China, Hong Kong</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/1/7/shein-faces-uk-probe-over-labor-practices-1022">READ: Trump admin considers adding Shein, Temu to &#x27;forced labor&#x27; list - Semafor</a></div><p>The &quot;de minimis&quot; exemption allows goods valued at $800 or below to enter the United States without paying duties or certain taxes, but it has faced scrutiny due to a surge in shipments in recent years.</p><p>The US Customs and Border Protection agency said last month that exemption shipments were worth over $1.36 billion in 2024, creating challenges for its enforcement of trade laws, health and safety requirements, intellectual property rights, and consumer protection rules.</p><p>US officials have pointed to the growth of Chinese-founded online retailers Shein and Temu as a key factor behind this increase -- and Tuesday&#x27;s halt could delay parcels from both companies from entering the country.</p><p>Beijing responded with fury to the move, accusing the US of &quot;politicising trade and economic issues and using them as tools&quot;.</p><p>Vowing to &quot;take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies&quot;, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian accused Washington of &quot;unreasonable suppression&quot;.</p><p>Washington has been looking to tighten the &quot;de minimis&quot; rules, saying the growth in shipments makes it harder to screen goods for security risks.</p><p>But the US postal service gave no reason for its pause on Tuesday.</p><p>AFP has reached out to Shein and Temu for comment.</p><p>Other retailers such as Amazon might also be impacted.</p><p>The low-cost retailers took another hit Wednesday as the European Commission announced it would seek to impose new fees on e-commerce imports -- the bulk of which come from China.</p><p>The measures are part of efforts to tackle a surge of &quot;harmful&quot; products into the bloc.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/2/4/trump-chinas-xi-set-to-speak-on-tariff-battle-0320">READ: Trump, China&#x27;s Xi set to speak on tariff battle</a></div><div><strong>- Tariff standoff -</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABT9OS1c83n6sMyf&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><p>Tuesday saw Beijing say it would impose levies on imports of US energy, vehicles and equipment in a return salvo minutes after Trump&#x27;s threatened tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect.</p><p>A day earlier, Trump suspended duties on Mexico and Canada for a month after both countries vowed to step up measures to counter flows of the drug fentanyl and the crossing of undocumented migrants into the United States.</p><p>Beijing&#x27;s moves hit roughly $20 billion worth of US goods per year -- roughly 12 percent of total American imports into China, according to calculations by Capital Economics.</p><p>But their impact is a far cry from US tariffs announced over the weekend, which will affect some $450 billion worth of goods.</p><p>Although earlier it appeared that US parcels could still be sent from Macau, by Wednesday evening the semi-autonomous Chinese city&#x27;s post office announced that its service was also suspended.</p><p>Trump had signalled earlier that the talks with Xi could take place early this week, but addressing reporters at the White House Tuesday afternoon, he said he was in &quot;no rush&quot;.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Beijing accused the United States Wednesday of "suppression" after its postal service said it was suspending parcels from China and Hong Kong, a move that could hit e-commerce giants Temu and Shein.</p>

Beijing accused the United States Wednesday of "suppression" after its postal service said it was suspending parcels from China and Hong Kong, a move that could hit e-commerce giants Temu and Shein.

China slams US 'suppression' as trade war deepens

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China slams US 'suppression' as trade war deepens

Agence France-Presse,

Oliver Hotham

Published Feb 05, 2025 10:17 PM PHT

Read More:

China

United States

tariffs

Donald Trump

Lin Jian

US Postal Service

TEmu

Shein

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