The Trump administration ended US duty-free access for low-value shipments from China - including Hong Kong - on Friday, removing the "de minimis" exemptions.

The action restores an executive order from US President Donald Trump in February that was quickly suspended due to a lack of screening procedures for shipments valued at US$800 or below, that had sparked chaos at airports and caused millions of packages to pile up.

US Customs and Border Protection has "a massive task at hand" but is ready to handle the enforcement and collection of Trump's tariffs on small Chinese shipments, a spokesperson for the agency said.

"We are prepared and equipped to carry out enhanced package screening and enforce orders effectively as outlined" in Trump's executive order ending de minimis treatment for China, the spokesperson added.

The new procedures should not affect passenger wait times at airports and ports of entry, the spokesperson said.

Under CBP's latest guidance, the shipments regardless of size will now be subject to Trump's new tariffs of 145 percent plus any prior duties, except for products such as smartphones which were excluded last month. These will largely be handled by express shippers such as FedEx, United Parcel Service or DHL, which have their own cargo handling facilities.

Items valued at up to US$800 and sent from China via postal services are treated differently. They are now subject to a tax of 120 percent of the package's value or a flat fee of US$100 per package - an amount that rises to US$200 in June.

The US Postal Service said it would not be involved in any duty collections. Instead, a USPS spokesperson said, airlines and vessel operators would need to work with shippers and Chinese postal authorities to pay the import taxes and show proof before the goods are transported out of mainland China or Hong Kong.

Hongkong Post suspended surface mail services to the US on April 16 and stopped air mail services on April 27, saying it would "definitely not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the US".

"We have the same worry about bottlenecks," said Kate Muth, executive director of the International Mailers Advisory Group (IMAG), whose members include Amazon.com, eBay and divisions of United Parcel Service, FedEx and DHL.

The end of de minimis and high US tariffs on Chinese goods are likely to dent international air cargo traffic, which had been surging as US shoppers bought more from platforms like Shein and Temu.

Although de minimis is a Latin term referring to matters of little importance, low-value shipments from China to the US reached an estimated US$5.1 billion in 2024, according to US Census Bureau data. That made it the seventh-largest US import category from China, behind video game consoles, but just ahead of computer monitors.

De minimis packages account for around one-third of the total air cargo tonnes coming to the US from Asia, and that trade volume could drop by 75 percent this year, Trade and Transport Group estimates. (Reuters)