The US tariff on small goods parcels sent from mainland China and Hong Kong has been tripled in the latest escalation by US President Donald Trump of the ongoing trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

The duty on small parcels, previously exempt from duties as part of the de diminis rule, will be increased to US$75 from the US$25 that Trump had set as part of his original opening salvo in the trade war on April 2.

The new US$75 duty will take effect on parcels sent from May 2 and before June 1, which was the period when the original US$25 levy was to come into play. That US$25 levy was originally set to be increased to US$50 after June 1.

An amendment to the so-called reciprocal tariffs published by the White House on Wednesday Hong Kong time said the new rate on packages priced up to US$800 will be 90 percent of their value, up from the original 30 percent.

With the amendment, the per postal item fee will also be tripled to US$150 from the planned US$50 that was to go into effect after June 1.

The new tariff came into play as Trump made good on his punitive measure against China after it had reciprocated his 34 percent tariffs by a similar quantum.

That brought his latest tariffs to 84 percent, making the total, on top of the 20 percent in levies imposed in February and March, 104 percent.

The punitive tariffs come as around 60 percent of all de minimis packages entering the United States come from China.

The SAR government, meanwhile expressed strong disapproval over the US' move.

A spokesman said the US measures were unreasonable, and its ever-changing policies have caused confusion and inconvenience.

"The US no longer upholds free trade, arbitrarily undermining the rules of the World Trade Organization jointly established by the international community, seriously impeding the multilateral trading system and globalisation process, and disrupting the global supply chain," the spokesman wrote in a statement.

It pointed out that Hongkong Post will not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the US authorities.

The statement added that, for now, Hongkong Post will maintain postal services to the US, but it will announce later the temporary suspension arrangement for postal services to the country.
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Last updated: 2025-04-09 HKT 21:53