Hong Kong Post halts goods mail services to US over ‘bullying, abusive’ tariffs

HONG KONG, April 16 (Reuters) - Hong Kong Post said on Wednesday it had suspended goods mail services by sea to the United States and will suspend its air mail postal service for items containing goods from April 27 due to "bullying" U.S. tariffs.

When sending items to the United States, Hong Kong people "should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the U.S.'s unreasonable and bullying acts," Hong Kong Post said in a statement.

Other postal items containing documents only without goods would not be affected.

"The U.S. is unreasonable, bullying and imposing tariffs abusively. Hong Kong post will definitely not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the U.S.," it said.

Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, has been subjected to the same tariffs as China, according to a U.S. government notice.

The former British colony has long been known as a free and open trading hub, but China's imposition on Hong Kong of a sweeping national security law in 2020 drew criticism from the U.S. and led it to end the financial hub's special status under U.S. law.

Hong Kong Post said its suspension was due to the U.S. government's elimination of the "de minimus" exemption and the increase in tariffs for postal items from Hong Kong containing goods to the U.S. from May 2.