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Square Enix Store Pauses Some Pre-Orders, Hong Kong Suspends Mail to U.S. Due to Tariffs

The pre-orders page of Square Enix's online store now contains a notice that the store has temporarily paused some new merchandise pre-orders due to "ongoing international tariff uncertainties" as of April 9.

Hong Kong Post Also Suspends Surface and Air Postal Services to the U.S.

The Hong Kong Post also suspended and has stopped accepting surface postal items containing goods bound to the U.S., effective as of Wednesday, April 16. The Hong Kong Post will then suspend and will stop accepting air postal items containing goods bound to the U.S., starting on April 27. Document-only postal items will not be affected with these service suspensions.

In 2020, the Japan Post suspended sending EMS (Express Mail Service) packages to the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background on New U.S. Tariffs

U.S. President Donald Trump announced a baseline tariff of 10% on global imports to the United States would start on April 5. He also announced self-described "reciprocal" tariffs would start against many countries on April 9. Vietnam and Cambodia would receive some of the highest additional tariff rates at 46% and 49%, respectively, while Japan and China would receive 24% and 34%, respectively. The president then suspended tariffs for almost all countries except China, which he continued raising to an effective 145% (including tariffs levied prior to the current administration) over a number of days, with China responding with an escalation of its own tariffs to the United States that so far has reached 125%.

The White House posted a list of products exempted from the additional tariffs after the April 2 announcement. That list includes "printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter," which indicates books such as manga and other comic books physically printed in Asia would be exempted from the additional tariffs. The U.S. administration has since clarified other goods would be excluded from the tariffs, including steel and aluminum products, cars and car products, certain critical resources, smartphones, computers, and various electronic parts, among others.

The new U.S. tariffs would also affect toys, figures, and other merchandise produced in China, Vietnam, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia.

The U.S. administration noted that it can raise tariffs further or lower them, depending on how countries respond. The current situation on the U.S.'s new protectionist tariff policy is extremely fluid and volatile, and has seen changes and clarifications almost every day.

Sources: Square Enix Store, Hong Kong Post via Siliconera (link 2)