China on Wednesday filed a World Trade Organization, WTO, complaint against the new 10% tariff on Chinese imports by US President Donald Trump and his cancellation of a duty-free exemption for low-value packages, arguing that the actions are protectionist and break WTO rules.
Beijing’s request for US trade consultations came as confusion reigned among shippers and retailers over Trump’s closure of the “de minimis” exemption for package imports valued under $800 and widely used by e-commerce firms including Shein, Temu (PDD.O), and Amazon (AMZN.O).
According to a Customs and Border Protection official, all small packages from China and Hong Kong needed to have customs entries on file prior to arrival, adding that there was the potential for some cargo to be sent back without paperwork.
The WTO said China submitted a request for consultations with the US on the tariffs.
China, in the document argued that Trump’s new duties aimed at halting the flow of fentanyl opioids and their precursor chemicals to the US are imposed on the basis of unfounded and false allegations concerning China.
It further stated that the duties were discriminatory, only applying to goods of Chinese origin, and are inconsistent with the United States’ WTO obligations.
DAILY POST gathered that the request for consultations is the start of a dispute process that could lead to a ruling that Trump’s duties violated trade rules in the same manner that a 2020 WTO ruling found that his first-term China tariffs broke trade regulations.
However, such a victory would be unlikely to bring Beijing relief because the WTO’s Appellate Body has been largely inoperable for years, as the US has blocked the appointment of appellate judges over what it views as judicial overreach by the body.
DAILY POST recalls that the US Postal Service said on Wednesday it would again accept parcels from China and Hong Kong, reversing a temporary suspension that threatened to disrupt millions of package imports every day.
“We’re all running around like headless chickens at this moment in time, trying to second-guess what’s going to happen,” said Martin Palmer, co-founder of Hurricane Commerce, a cross-border e-commerce data provider.
The Trump administration has blamed the de minimis exemption for allowing fentanyl and its precursor chemicals to enter the U.S. unscreened. Recent Reuters reporting has also found that drug traffickers are exploiting the exemption.
The US Postal Service said in a statement it was working with the US Customs and Border Protection agency to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to minimize disruptions to deliveries.
