On 2 May, the US government eliminated the customs duty exemption on small parcels from mainland China and Hong Kong, such as those sent by e-commerce giants Shein and Temu.
“In practice, Macau is now not included and mail going to the United States is moving, except by sea. The rest is business as usual,” said Derby Lau Wai Meng.
The director of the Post and Telecommunications Services (CTT) explained that the shipment of any goods by sea from Macau to the US involves a stopover in Hong Kong, one of the busiest ports in the world.
This means that the only option left is to send parcels by air, Derby Lau confirmed.
“This is a sensitive issue,” she acknowledged. “I think it’s best not to talk about it, because they shouldn’t remember us,” she added.
An executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on 2 April ended customs duty exemptions on small parcels from mainland China and Hong Kong.
The document asked US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to submit a report within 90 days on whether the end of the exemption should also cover Macau, “to prevent circumvention of these measures”.
On 16 April, Hong Kong Post announced the suspension of parcel deliveries to the United States in response to the US authorities’ “abusive” imposition of tariffs.
A presidential decree issued by Donald Trump during his first term in 2020 eliminated the preferential treatment granted to Hong Kong. The former British colony is therefore also affected by the 145% surcharge imposed on China.
In mid-April, the Chinese Communist Party’s top official for Hong Kong and Macau affairs and the leaders of the two regions’ governments accused the United States of imposing tariffs to sabotage China.
Macau’s government leader, Sam Hou Fai, criticised the United States for “abusively imposing customs duties on all its trading partners”, including China, “under various pretexts”.
Today, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that Washington and Beijing will suspend most customs duties and negotiate for 90 days.
In negotiations held in Geneva, the United States and China agreed to reduce reciprocal customs duties imposed on each other by 115 percentage points. Chinese imports will pay a customs duty of 30%, while American products will pay a customs duty of 10%.
