Hong Kong Post said on Wednesday it had suspended goods mail services by sea to the US and will suspend its air mail postal service for items containing goods from 27 April due to “bullying” US tariffs.

When sending items to the US, people in Hong Kong “should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the US’s unreasonable and bullying acts”, Hong Kong Post said in a statement.

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

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

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

Hong Kong Post said its suspension was due to the US government’s elimination of the “de minimus” exemption and the increase in tariffs for postal items from Hong Kong containing goods to the US from 2 May.

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