A day after US President Donald Trump's new tariffs on Chinese imports were imposed, consumers and small businesses are already feeling the pressure of the new prices.
Transmits UNN with reference to Wired.
Trump's executive order not only raised tariffs on Chinese goods, but also canceled a longstanding trade exemption that allowed small packages from China to the United States to be shipped duty-free if they were under $800. The abrupt changes have wreaked havoc on the online shopping industry.
“Right now I'm stuck with $30,000 worth of goods that I can't get across the border, and that's the backbone of my business,” says Leslie Brown, owner of a Canadian second-hand company that sells clothes to American buyers on eBay and Poshmark.
Yesterday, Brown published a blog post on Medium titled “Donald Trump will kill my business.
Chardonnay Love, a Pennsylvania-based artist, says she received a text message from DHL on Tuesday explaining that she needed to pay $26.20 in import duties to receive a Shein order that had already cost her $267.14.
The package was shipped from Guangzhou, China, and arrived at customs in Cincinnati on Tuesday, according to DHL tracking records.
Love's order was suspended for several hours, during which she received a message asking her to pay the import duty. DHL also said that the package would be returned in five days if she refused to do so.
Context
Starting on Tuesday, shoppers, small businesses, and e-commerce websites must now take into account the 10 percent additional tariff, as well as the usual import duties applicable to various categories of goods, as well as processing and intermediary fees.
But there have been no changes yet:
The U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday reversed its decision to suspend the delivery of parcels from China and Hong Kong a day after announcing the move.
The Postal Service did not provide reasons for the cancellation, but said it would work with Customs and Border Protection to implement a process to collect the new tariffs from China and avoid disruptions in delivery.
Recall
USPS suspended shipments from China after additional tariffs came into effect.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that it will “temporarily” stop accepting packages from China and Hong Kong “until further notice” as the trade war between Washington and Beijing intensifies.
EU ready to respond decisively to possible US tariffs - von der Leyen04.02.25, 12:59