US President Donald Trump reinstated the "minimum" tax-free threshold for Chinese small packages (worth less than $800) on Friday, giving the US Department of Commerce time to make the order feasible. This rapid change has caused confusion for customs inspectors, postal and courier services, and online retailers.
This week, the US Postal Service stopped and resumed receiving these packages, causing significant congestion in customs clearance of packages at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, including those that have already paid tariffs.
The White House spokesperson stated that the revision of the order by the Trump administration was signed on Wednesday and announced on Friday.
According to a press release from the White House, Trump announced in an executive order that duty-free treatment for small packages from China will remain in effect until "sufficient systems are established to comprehensively and quickly process and collect tariff revenues. Trump did not specify the expiration date of the latest executive order.
Niall van de Wouw, Chief Air Transport Officer of Xeneta, a freight pricing platform, stated that Temu and Shein transport a total of approximately 9000 metric tons of cargo worldwide every day, equivalent to about 88 fully loaded Boeing 777 freighters.
You cannot suddenly stop such a large amount of air transportation, so it is not surprising that the minimum administrative order has been postponed