Clients of American secondhand, vintage or handmade stores, who buy products on eBay (EBAY.O), opens new tab and Etsy (ETSY.O), opens new tab online platforms, will be subject to substantially elevated customs tariffs on foreign purchases in April, which could damage international trade in these peer-to-peer mediums.
Late Wednesday in a surprise move, U.S. President Donald Trump directed the withdrawal of what is known as “de minimis” duty-free treatment of parcels below 800 U.S. dollars on all countries effective August 29 – early by a deadline of July 2027 that had been lined up at the time
The move comes amid pressure by the groups that say the exemption helps not only fentanyl smuggling into the U.S., but also dumping of cheap products into the U.S. duty-free, which hurts U.S. retailers and manufactures.
At the beginning of May, Trump put an end to duty free imports of Chinese and Hong Kong parcel based online retailers such as Shein and Temu operations.
Last year, Customs and Border Protection received 1.36 billion shipments under de minimis into the U.S. with a total value of $64.6 billion.
U.S. businesses such as eBay and Etsy were among those that voiced an opposition to the policy when CBP sought comments on the suggestion to eliminate de minimis.
“Such exemptions can be a potent tool that can assist small producers, artists, and craft makers to enter the cross-border trades and navigate through those transactions,” as Etsy global head of public policy and advocacy Jeffrey Zubricki wrote in a March submission to CBP.
A great number of American Etsy sellers utilize the de minimis in the importation and exportation of products to and fro with their most significant partners, which helps to continue their business and earn money to feed their families.
Most of the 5.6 million active sellers and close to 90 million buyers on Etsy are in the U.S. Etsy did not respond to a request for comment issued on Thursday.
