US Postal Service suspends some inbound parcels from China amid trade war

The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced a temporary suspension of international package acceptance from China and Hong Kong, effective February 4.

This suspension only applies to inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong Posts and does not affect the delivery of letters and flats from these regions.

USPS shared the announcement on Tuesday (local time) on its official website and wrote, "Effective Feb. 4, the Postal Service will temporarily suspend only international package acceptance of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong Posts until further notice. Note the flow of letters and flats from China and Hong Kong will not be impacted."

Trump, who recently took office, imposed 25 per cent tariffs on goods imported from China, Mexico, and Canada over the weekend. Later on Monday, US President Donald Trump postponed the tariffs on Mexico and Canada by a month under ongoing negotiation on terms.

In response to the US government's announcement of a 10 per cent tariff on all Chinese goods exported to America, China too imposed additional tariffs on various US goods, including a 15 per cent tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas, and a 10 per cent tariff on crude oil starting from February 10.

Recently Al Jazeera reported that Trump is also expected to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping citing Trump's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not provide a specific timeline for the Trump-Xi call but said it would happen "soon."

China has strongly denounced US President Donald Trump's decision of imposing tariffs, while also leaving the door open for talks to avoid a deepening conflict.

Meanwhile, Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced a 30-day suspension on US tariffs after an agreement was reached with Trump, as per Al Jazeera.

The Mexican and Canadian leaders have agreed to send police to their borders with the US to fight drug trafficking and undocumented migration.

A senior trade adviser to Trump said that Mexico has been "very cooperative" in efforts to crack down on the influx of fentanyl into the US, and Canada has started to understand that it needs to do more, Al Jazeera reported.