On May 2, the administration of US President Donald Trump ended the de minimis policy allowing packages worth less than US$800 ordered online from China and Hong Kong to enter the US duty-free.

It imposed tariffs of 120% on such parcels.

With the issue absent from today’s announcement, trade experts said the future of the policy was now unclear.

“There is no clarity on de minimis at all,” said Martin Palmer, co-founder of cross-border data provider Hurricane Modular Commerce.

“Logic says that if you cut tariffs for everything else, then it should mirror into de minimis because that’s such a sizeable part of the imports into the US from China,” Palmer said.

Shipping products duty-free from Chinese factories to American consumers had helped online retailers Temu and Shein surge in popularity, selling ultra-cheap gadgets, clothes, and accessories to the US.

Shares in Temu owner PDD Holdings were up 7% today after the announced cuts to tariffs.

PDD and Shein did not immediately reply to a request for comment.