Mackenzie Knight bought $ 100 in beauty of Joseon’s sunscreens and other popular Korean skin care products last month of Yesstyle, an important online retailer from K-Beeauty. Five days later, he received an email from Global Shipping Company DHL that contains a tariff invoice of $ 20. He had five days to pay, according to the notice, or his order would be returned.
The position was a shock, Knight told NBC News, because Yesstyle did not mention on their website that consumers would be charged an additional rate as a result of the end of the Minimis tariff exemption, a escape for the lowest value packages than the administration of President Donald Trump stopped last week.
“I feel grateful to pay $ 20, but it’s not the best not to wait for it,” said Knight, 35, from San José, California. “If people can know how many rates they would be charged, a calculator, for example, that would be useful.”
Beauty addicts obsessed with Korean cleaning oils, snail mucin and the most protective sunscreens of what are available in the United States might want to prepare before adding products to your cart and see the price.
The minimis disposition allowed packages valued at less than $ 800 to import tax free. Now these packages will now be charged at rates of rates that the United States placed in their countries of origin or fixed rates from $ 80 to $ 200, the last option available only for six months.
South Korea, for example, was subject to a 15% reciprocal tariff from this summer.
The end of the exemption combined with the recent Round of Rates has shaken the Korean beauty industry, which has experienced a sustained boom in the United States during the last decade.
The United States imported approximately $ 1.7 billion in K-Beauty products in 2024, an increase of more than 50% compared to the previous year, according to data from the United States International Trade Commission.
While the tariffs interrupt global supply chains, the elimination of minimis disposition affects the shipments of low value items, such as small electronic products and products for skin and beauty care, said Munseob Lee, an economist at the University of California in San Diego.
In the short term, he said, K-Beauty consumers could face “higher prices, less varieties and delivery times.”
The elimination of minimis exemption could cost the average American family of up to $ 136 per year, the greatest impact that falls on low -income and minority consumers that depend on affordable imports, according to a February report of the Yale economic growth center.
Lee said that the total impact of minimis change on the K-Beauty industry may not be clear until next year, since many buyers and retailers have supplied themselves in the inventory to prepare for higher tariff costs.
At the moment, he said, it is difficult to determine the exact increases in prices because sellers can adopt different strategies to compensate for costs. Larger retailers may have market power to transmit tasks to consumers, but smaller brands may have to suspend deliveries to US buyers, he said.
The impact of global tariffs and the end of the exemption of Minimis is not limited to the Korean beauty industry. Santiago Vance, who buys Japanese beauty products, said online retailers like Wabi-Sabi and Yoyo Japan have stopped sending their stem cell sera to the United States
“I am really disappointed in how cruel this administration is for normal people,” he said. “We don’t buy much. Most of us never exceed the amount of minimis that was already there.”
The Congress had planned to eliminate the exemption of rates for all countries in July 2027, but Trump signed an executive order that accelerated the end date of August 29. The same day, K-Beauty Olive Young retailer imposed a 15% customs tax on all US orders to compensate for 15% tax in southern mail imports that entered into force on August 1.
“We have just accepted the reality that this year will be one of the most profitable years,” said Liah Yoo, a beauty influencer and founder of the Krave Beauty Krave brand based in the United States.
Because Krave Beauty has a distribution center based in the USA. UU. And does not send finished products from Korea, said Yoo, the exemption of Minimis does not affect his business as much as direct import rates. Its packaging and operating costs have increased, but Yoo said it is neglecting hiking prices due to continuous geopolitical uncertainty.
“The last thing I want to do is increase prices and then go back because commercial policy changed again,” he said. “Hopefully there will be something more stone for the end of the year.”
