On July 1st, the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) entered into force, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The USMCA contains key provisions dedicated to Small and Medium Enterprises and also streamlines customs practices, which will ease international trade and help increase small business exports.
The eBay government relations team played an active role in protecting small businesses during consideration of this trade agreement and successfully fought to maintain the $800 US customs de minimis threshold. The agreement also includes some improvements in the de minimis thresholds of Canada and Mexico, although these still fall far short of the US threshold.
Maintaining the US threshold eliminates red tape and ensures that US small businesses will continue to be able to offer returns on global sales without extra costs. The eBay Main Street community made its voice heard on this issue, sending tens of thousands of letters to Congress in favor of maintaining the current threshold. Thank you again to all of the eBay Main Street members who participated in our de minimis grassroots campaign last November and helped make this positive outcome possible!
For more information on the USMCA, we encourage you to visit: https://ustr.gov/usmca