大决定如何影响我们的小包裹

We might not be getting our packages from DHL. Like many others, they’ve temporarily suspended deliveries on imports.

The reason is tariff uncertainty.

tariff

The De Minimis Tariff

History

Because customs wanted to avoid “spending a dollar to collect 50 cents, ” it made no sense to tax cheap imports. As a result, since 1938, inexpensive packages have been entering the U.S. duty free. In the beginning, the threshold was $1. Raised several times by the Congress, more recently, the no-tax amount climbed to $800.

Then though, on February 1, the President ended the exemption and also slapped an extra 10% on all Chinese imports.

Immediately, however, more than one million low value packages piled up at JFK Airport in NYC. The illogic that had been cited almost 100 years ago when the exemption began became a reality. So, on February 7, a week later, the exemption returned.

Now, President Trump reversed his reversal.

Now

Next Friday (August 29) de minimis ends.

Responding, shippers worry that unexpected storage or send-back fees could be pricey. As a result, until they’ve clarified the new U.S. tariff rules, a long list of countries have temporarily suspended shipments. The list includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and a slew of Asian countries.同样，国际航空公司DHL表示，其德国包裹服务只会提供源自德国的“礼物”套餐，这些套餐发给了不超过100美元的消费者。

Our Bottom Line: Tariff Incentives

The de minimis exemption is the perfect example of a tax incentive.

在第一个特朗普政府期间，当较高的关税增加了进口低价项目的批量货物的价格时，进口商意识到，单独的包裹必须进入美国……而且他们做到了。 Mexican warehouse workers separated bulk shipments of low value items into smaller packages that then were sent to U.S. consumers. It was called the “Tijuana two-step.”

price

Now, de minimis’s disappearance creates some new incentives.

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