White House website news reported that on April 2nd, US President Trump signed an executive order to close the trade "loophole" channel for tax-free delivery of low-priced parcels from China to the US. The order stated that starting from Eastern Time May 2nd, Trump will terminate the tax-free treatment for small-value parcels imported from mainland China and Hong Kong, i.e., the de minimis threshold. The US Commerce Secretary will submit a report within 90 days to assess the impact of this order and consider whether these rules should be extended to parcels from Macao, China. According to the "Sing Tao Daily" website, the US low-value tax exemption system allows individual import parcels with a value below $800 to be exempt from customs duties and import taxes. Previously, on February 1st, Trump signed an executive order imposing a 10% tariff on goods imported from China. The executive order also canceled the "minimum threshold" tariff exemption for small shipments "below $800", and the policy came into effect on February 4th. Foreign media noticed that China quickly retaliated against the US with "an eye for an eye" trade countermeasures. On the same day that the US 10% tariff took effect (February 4th), China hit back with five countermeasures: imposing additional tariffs on some US imports, listing two US companies in the Unreliable Entity List, implementing export controls on tungsten, tellurium, and related items, filing a lawsuit at the WTO, and launching an anti-monopoly investigation against Google. On February 5th, the US Postal Service announced that it would stop accepting parcels from mainland China and Hong Kong, but later withdrew the announcement the same day. On February 7th local time, the US reinstated the "minimum threshold" tax exemption for small parcels (valued below $800) from China until "sufficient systems are established to comprehensively and promptly process and collect tariff revenues." According to US media reports, President Trump signed this executive order on the 5th, only about four days after he canceled this tax exemption on the 1st. Song Guoyou, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told Observer Network that the main reason Trump modified the order was that the US could not establish a system to inspect a large number of parcels in a short period of time, facing a shortage of manpower. "He underestimated the technical issues involved in taxing small parcels; there were too many parcels and insufficient manpower. Therefore, in the face of the current reality that they could not handle it well in a short time, Trump decided to press pause, allowing time to build procedures and systems." Regarding the US side's insistence on provoking a trade dispute, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded on February 5th, pointing out that China's measures are necessary actions to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. There is no winner in a trade war or tariff war, and pressure tactics do not work on China. China urges the US side to correct its wrong practices, resolve respective concerns through equal consultations, and promote stable, healthy, and sustainable development of Sino-US relations. This article is an exclusive article by Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission. Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7488868019867861523/ Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's personal views. Please express your attitude by using the "thumbs up/thumbs down" button below.