Canadian online vendors warn that their businesses are threatened since the United States plans to start collecting duties in low -value plots since Friday.
Until now, goods for less than $ 800 have been allowed to enter the tax -free of the United States under what is known as minimis exemption. But in July, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed an executive order that, as of August 29, all plots must pay “all applicable tasks.”
That will impose an additional cost and paperwork to Canadian online vendors that have previously been sent to the United States under the exemption of Minimis.
“It’s a big problem,” said Dave Pelkey, owner of the Vintage Box in Arnprior, Ontario.
One of its online shop windows performs 60 percent of its sales to customers in the United States, but is concerned that the load of duties will damage your business.
“It will really make products from Canada very unattractive from a pricing perspective,” he said.
‘Great Impact’
In recent years, the number of plots entering the United States under the exemption of Minimis has increased to more than 1.3 billion annually. While many of these arrive from Electronic Commerce giants in China, Canadian online vendors have also benefited from exemption.
But with the elimination of De Minimis, some Canadian vendors of Etsy and Ebay have added notes to their profiles saying that they will stop selling customers in the United States.
“Etsy’s little retailers, the ebays … All these online retailers will have a great impact with this. This will change the trade much more than the tariffs did,” said the United States Customs Corridor, Damon Páatek.
Other business owners say that additional costs are making their business models to rethink.
Cal Green, owner and creative director of Raised by Wolves in Ottawa, says he will turn his street clothing label to Canadian customers.
“I definitely can’t pay the invoice for increasing rates,” he said. “American customers will have to pay in one way or another.”
Sales to the United States currently represent about 25 percent of their business, Green said, although that is likely to change. “I’m just trying to concentrate on national sales at this time,” he said.
Shipping companies have been struggling to understand how the new regime will be implemented.
“It is complicated because now everyone has to discover how these tasks will be collected,” said Juhee Cha, who works in communications for the Canadian shipping company Chit Chats.
The US Customs and Border Protection Agency.
“It is causing many headaches, people fighting, a lot of stress, uncertainty,” Cha for CBC told CBC. “How are these systems to put in place when they were told a week ago?”
The paperwork must now include information from the manufacturer and an HTS code of 10 digits that will determine which tariffs and rates will be charged, he said.
“I feel bad because there is a large group of old or old vendors and there is no ideal solution for them,” he said, explaining that older products may not have a clearly labeled HTS manufacturing or code.
As postal companies rush to implement tax collection systems, EBAY has said that it will stop allowing users to send with Canada Post, citing “a significant risk that non -compliant shipments that reach the US. UU. Beyond August 29 will be returned to the sender.”
Meanwhile, Canada Post has said that it is being associated with a private company to collect tasks.
“To meet the new US requirements, we are associating with zonos to collect duties before entering our network and sending them directly to customs and border protection of the USA. UU.,” Said Canada Post in an email to customers of small businesses on August 22.
Meanwhile, in Arnprior, the Old Concessionaire Pelkey has been fighting this week to send orders using express shipping to ensure that they clarify the customs of the United States before Friday. From then on, he said he is not sure how things are going, citing uncertainty about the rate and tax rates.
“It is still not clear what will be charged,” he said.
