Amid the United States’ unpredictable tariff hikes, the logistics industry should speed up the export of the Chinese mainland’s abundant commodities to newly developed overseas markets, according to a logistics leader in Hong Kong.

“The US government’s unpredictable tariff policies have decreased its business credit as a trading partner to the world,” Ken Chung Hung-hing, chairman of the Chamber of Hong Kong Logistics Industry, told China Daily in an exclusive interview on Monday.

Since the beginning of this month, the US has imposed round after round of additional tariffs on major economies, including China. The White House has also announced an end to the duty-free de minimis treatment for the shipment of parcels from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, starting on May 2.

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Chung condemned the arrangement as “impractical”, adding that he believes it will be difficult to implement in the short term. “Due to the large market, adopting new tariff models on these small parcels will add a substantial amount of work to the US customs system, and will even paralyze it,” he said.

He warned that the uncertainties will hamper the delivery of goods for unfinished orders and hinder progress with new orders between China and the US. To mitigate the losses, Chung said that the Hong Kong logistics industry should develop more new overseas markets besides the US.

New markets for Hong Kong's logistics industry include the European Union (EU), Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and South America, he said.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is actively seeking new trading partners. The SAR has so far signed nine free trade agreements with 21 economies, and is making every effort to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as soon as possible.

Chung said he also attaches great importance to the Chinese mainland market. “It has abundant commodities; therefore Hong Kong should strive to be a choice for Chinese mainland exporters, and support them in exporting products to new markets,” Chung said.

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He urged local exporters and logistics service providers to participate more in facilitating this domestic circulation. “We are now intensifying our efforts to bring goods from more mainland cities and provinces, such as those in the southwest, to the world.”