By George Glover

Amazon.com, Alibaba, and Temu's parent, PDD Holdings, were among the e-commerce stocks falling on Wednesday, even after the U.S. Postal Service said it would resume accepting all inbound parcels from mainland China and Hong Kong.

The USPS had said in a statement late Tuesday that it would be halting the acceptance of packages "until further notice." Early Wednesday, it updated the statement to say it would continue accepting inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong. It is working with Customs and Border Protection to minimize the disruption caused by tariffs.

Citi analysts led by Alicia Yap said in a research note published before the updated statement that the temporary suspension was likely so the postal service could make sure its systems were "integrated with the U.S. CBP system on latest custom clearance procedures following the implementation of new tariffs."

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated this week. Beijing retaliated by announcing tariffs of its own after President Donald Trump raised levies on Chinese imports by 10%.

Chinese e-commerce stocks were dropping on Wednesday, although they pared back some of their losses after the USPS said it would resume accepting inbound parcels. A longer-term suspension could have dented the companies' earnings, although most of their revenue comes from China.

American depositary receipts of Alibaba, which made 8.4% of its revenue from international commerce in the quarter ended Sept. 30, fell 1.6%. PDD, which operates Pinduduo in China and Temu internationally, dropped 3.7%, and rival JD.com slid 2.4%.

Shares in North American e-commerce companies were struggling for direction. The parcel ban would have stopped them from selling cheap Chinese goods.

Amazon stock fell 2%. Shopify shares had traded in the red in the premarket, but were roughly flat after the USPS updated its statement. The benchmark S&P 500 index was 0.2% lower.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2025 09:42 ET (14:42 GMT)

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