Hong Kong’s postal service to stop accepting US-bound goods due to US ‘bullying’, according to theservice.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying that “the ball is in China’s court”.

“China needs to negotiate with us; we don’t need to negotiate with them,” Leavitt stated during a media briefing, which she claimed were Trump’s direct words.

“There’s no difference between China and any other country, except they are much larger. And China wants what we have – every country wants what we have – the American consumer. Or, to put it another way, they need our money,” Leavitt said, adding that Trump has made it “perfectly clear” that he is open to a trade deal with China.

Trump’s statement came after he accused China of backtracking on a deal with US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, following a report by Bloomberg that Beijing had instructed Chinese airlines to halt the acceptance of Boeing planes.

Boeing shares dropped by 2.36 percent after the report, which cited “people familiar with the matter”. Neither Boeing nor Chinese authorities have confirmed or commented on the report.

“They just backed out of the big Boeing deal, stating that they will ‘not take possession’ of fully-committed-to aircraft,” Trump said on Truth Social.

The US and China have been engaged in a intensifying trade war since Trump’s return to the White House.

Despite pausing most of his “retaliatory” tariffs on numerous trading partners, Trump has increased import taxes on the majority of Chinese products to 145 percent.

China, in retaliation, has implemented a 125 percent tariff on US exports.

In the latest escalation on Wednesday, Hong Kong’s postal service announced it would cease carrying mail bound for the US in response to the tariffs.

The US is being ‘irrational and bully-like’ and imposing tariffs abusively, Hong Kong Post stated. Hongkong Post will definitely not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the US and will stop accepting postal items containing goods destined for the US.

It added that it will immediately stop taking surface mail and cease accepting airmail from April 27.

China has stated that it opposes protectionism but is prepared to “fight to the end” if the US continues to escalate its trade attacks.

In an op-ed published in Vietnam’s Nhan Dan newspaper on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that trade wars “yield no winners” and protectionism “provides no solutions”.

“There is a need to resolutely protect the multilateral trading system, maintain the stability of global production and supply chains, and foster an open and cooperative international environment,” Xi said in the op-ed, which was published as the Chinese leader began a five-day tour of Southeast Asia.