South-east Asia the star exporter replacing ecommerce in air cargo
General cargo imports have emerged as the main driver of air freight demand on the ...
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By Alex Lennane
Alongside a blistering attack on the US, Hongkong Post announced this morning it would suspend services for goods to the country.
Following the decision by the White House to end de minimis exemptions for postal items sent from China and Hong Kong and increase tariffs, Hongkong Post said: “The US is unreasonable, bullying and imposing tariffs abusively.
“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.”
It said it would suspend surface mail acceptance immediately, due to the longer shipping time and 2 May deadline for tariffs to begin.
If senders have already posted items, the postal service will arrange for their return.
For air mail, Hongkong Post will stop accepting parcels on 27 April and warned: “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.
“Other postal items containing documents only, without goods, will not be affected.”
It is unclear what volumes of parcels are sent to the US via Hongkong Post. Data from analyst Ti shows North America accounts for nearly 12% of its total; volumes in 2023/4 were 1.317bn items, suggesting that up to some 158m parcels could be affected.
Source: Ti
Hongkong Post is thought to use China Postal Airlines for its US deliveries, a carrier owned by China Post and China Southern. The Loadstar has also contacted Cathay Cargo, which has flights to the US, and is thought to carry some post.
Fees on posted ecommerce items from China and Hong Kong will be $75 per postal shipment from 2 May, and $150 from 1 June. If ecommerce is sent via other operators, it will be subject to US tariffs.
Hongkong Post recently expanded its partnership with Asia Airfreight Terminal, a subsidiary of SATS, to handle export mail, before a new air mail centre at Hong Kong Airport opens in 2027.
The move could see ecommerce players set up new services in other parts of Asia to forward Hong Kong parcels destined to the US via other countries.
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