Hong Kong has taken the extraordinary step of suspending postal services to the United States amid the ongoing trade war with President Donald Trump.
In a shocking warning to residents in Hong Kong, officials accused America of being ‘unreasonable bullies’ who have ‘imposed tariffs abusively.’
Officials said Hongkong Post would no longer continue postal services to the United States via air mail from April 27.
And residents looking to still deal with the United States were warned to expect to pay ‘exorbitant and unreasonable fees.’
It comes amid Trump’s global trade war after he imposed tariffs on trading partners in an attempt to ‘even the playing field’, accusing both allies and foes of ‘ripping off’ America.
‘The US is unreasonable, bullying and imposing tariffs abusively,’ an official government statement read.
‘Hongkong Post will definitely not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the US and will suspend the acceptance of postal items containing goods destined to the US.
‘For sending items to the US, the public in Hong Kong should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the US’s unreasonable and bullying acts.’
Hong Kong has taken the extraordinary step of suspending all postal services to the United States amid the trade war with President Trump
In a shocking warning to residents in Hong Kong, officials accused America of being ‘unreasonable bullies’ who have ‘imposed tariffs abusively’
Due to ‘longer shipping times’, Hongkong Post will refuse to accept any and all surface mail with goods destined to the United States effective immediately.
‘Where senders have posted surface postal items containing goods that have not yet been shipped to the US, Hongkong Post will contact the senders to arrange for return of items and postage refund starting from April 22.’
President Trump is yet to respond to the extraordinary measure.
But when China retaliated against his efforts, he hit them with a steep 125 percent tariff, while simultaneously lowering the rest of the world’s bill to just 10 percent.
He also placed a 90-day pause on tariffs for all nations except China. Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, has been subjected to the same tariffs as China.
Hong Kong’s decision regarding the postal service comes six weeks after Trump briefly imposed a similar ban on goods arriving from China.
Back in February, the US Postal Service announced it would no longer accept parcels from the China and Hong Kong after the U.S. imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods and ended a customs exception that allowed small value parcels to enter the US without paying tax.
The decision threatened to wreak havoc on online shopping platforms like Shein and Temu, which are popular with younger shoppers in the US for cheap clothing and other products, usually shipped directly from China.
Due to ‘longer shipping times’, Hongkong Post will refuse to accept any and all surface mail with goods destined to the United States effective immediately
Residents looking to still deal with the United States were warned to expect to pay ‘exorbitant and unreasonable fees’
But just 24 hours later, the post office revealed the ban had been reversed.
Around the same time, Trump also closed the ‘de minimis’ customs exemption which allowed shoppers and importers to avoid duties on packages worth below $800.
Hongkong Post cited this reversal as one of the primary reasons behind its decision to suspend services to the US.
Other postal items containing documents only without goods will not be affected.
Trump’s on-again, off-again measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the U.S. could be headed for a recession.
There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries – but concerns remain since the United States and China are the world’s top economies.
Washington’s repeated raising of tariffs ‘will become a joke in the history of the world economy,’ a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said this week.
‘However, if the US insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.’
Trump also closed the ‘de minimis’ customs exemption which allowed shoppers and importers to avoid duties on packages worth below $800
One of China’s top officials overseeing Hong Kong affairs, Xia Baolong, said on Tuesday that the United States’ tariff war was ‘extremely shameless’ and aims to ‘take away Hong Kong’s life.’
Xia, the director of China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council, said bullying had never worked on Chinese people, including those from Hong Kong.
Xia said that ‘let those peasants in the United States wail in front of the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation.’
White House officials hope the import taxes will create more manufacturing jobs by bringing production back to the United States.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .