Yesterday the bipartisan leaders of the Senate Finance Committee sent a letter to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer urging him not to make any changes to the current U.S. de minimis threshold. The committee’s letter states that the current threshold of $800 "...benefits thousands of American small businesses across all sectors, as well as our manufacturers that rely on imported low-value inputs for the production of U.S. exports. All of these job-creating beneficiaries of the U.S. de minimis threshold also benefit from less red tape at the border. Our higher threshold has helped to make the United States a leader in global e-commerce."

eBay has always supported high de minimis thresholds to ease cross border trade for small businesses, and is strongly supportive of the United States’ leadership in setting a high standard for global ecommerce. eBay would like to thank Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) in particular for their leadership on this important ecommerce issue.