Washington ended the “de minimis” exemption for mainland China and Hong Kong on Friday, which had allowed products valued at US$800 or below to be shipped to the United States duty-free.
So what should Hongkongers expect with the removal of the exemption and how have local businesses responded? The Post breaks it down.
1. What are the new charges?
The de minimis provision allowed companies to avoid US import duties by shipping products valued at US$800 or less directly to individual consumers in small parcels, usually via air cargo.
With its removal, those items are now subject to a 120 per cent tax or a flat rate of US$100, which is scheduled to go up to US$200 in June.
Washington claimed the provision was being exploited by mainland e-commerce operators, such as Temu and Shein, to bypass existing tariffs that traditional importers and domestic manufacturers were paying.
Shipments under the exemption accounted for 92 per cent of all cargo entering the US, according to the US Customs and Border Patrol.
