Businesses See a Drop in US Customers During the Holiday Season Amid Taxes – Nationwide

At Fleece & Harmony, a Woolen Mill store and WARN store in Bucolic Belsist, Prince Edward Island, owner Kim Doherty used to send us skeins of yarn in a small border.

Yarn orders are usually met with import tax exemption for packages valued at less than $800, which means that they can be imported at low import tax rates and avoid the customs process.

However, since the Trump administration removed the exemption from Aug. 29, the cost of shipping yarn to US customers is revealed.

A bill for a $21 ball of yarn now includes $12 to $15 in shipping charges, state taxes and 6.5 percent taxes, all of which nearly doubles his costs.

“We’ve had orders reach customers and they’re shocked at the fact that they have to pay,” he said. “And it’s surprising how many people didn’t really know what the impact would be.”

Eliminating the so-called de minimis exemption was intended to curb drug trafficking and stop substandard goods from drug dealers like Teme and Shein Flathers The US Market.

But as the all-important holiday shopping season kicks off, it’s putting a crimp on small businesses and consumers who are now facing higher costs.

Chad Lundquast in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ordered oil from a site called October in October, but he did not realize the business was based in Toronto, Canada. His total was $35.75, including the standard shipping fee of $8. But when his package arrived, he was hit with a $10.80 tax from FedEx.

“It shouldn’t be a $10 tax on a $27 purchase,” Lundquist said. Perfume Oil did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s not the only Skittish Shopper.

Three months after the amnesty ended, sellers abroad reported a sharp drop in US sales. Others pay for the jobs themselves instead of passing them on to buyers. They are also trying to focus on livestock customers to get us out of the trade and adjust their product lineups to include better marketing materials to try to sell geese.

Martha Keith, the founder of the British Stationery Brands Brand Martha Brook, based in London with a small office in Melbourne, Australia, her main commercial channel more than a year before the dismissal ended. But sales plummet when tariffs hit, and you continue to dump even though he pays import taxes and customs fees himself so customers aren’t affected. Sales are still down about 30 percent annually.

“The argument seems to be that it is confident that it is hitting the desire to organize in businesses outside the US, because of the confusion about how the taxes will affect them,” said Keith.

He is in a bind because he sold the Present £109 ($144) State Advent Calendar for 344 percent of the US before taxes, and he had to ship them under tax rates. Shipping and tax costs an additional £5750 ($7590) to cover shipping of established calendars that have already been sold.

“This whole thing has been a nightmare for businesses like ours, and such a shame, as the US market is such an important place for us,” he said.

The timing was so bad that Sue Bacarro, who owns the coalflers sister of Digiideres, gifts and custom weddings at Detor in Windsor, Ontario.

Before the announcement of the removal of the de minimis amnesty, they placed a large order to create in preparation for the holiday season and the need for the beginning of 2026. But when the de minimis exemption ended, “Inventory was not as consistent as expected, and we suspected that customers were reluctant to buy because of the potential costs,” Bacarro said.

Sales – 70 percent from Americans – finally took off again when Digi Wildinglowers added a banner to its site that said, “US brings jobs to us.”

“Going into this holiday season, we’re keeping that message front and center through banners, social media, and direct communications,” said Bacarro, who is also expanding their product line.

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But not all businesses can — or want — to pick up the tax tab.

Kim Doheye, who runs the Woolen Mill in Prince Edward Island, does not plan to pay fees and commissions to his customers.

“I’m not in a position as a small business owner to do that. The profit margins just shrink,” said someone who does that “basically,” he shouldn’t.

Currently, his shipments to American customers are about 10 percent there. Instead, he’s working to expand his fiber offerings to Canadian customers at his brick-and-mortar store and fiber festivals.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’m sure my American customers used to buy and not think about it, but now they’ll be checking out what they’re doing, knowing they’re going to get more money than anything they see.”

Some Etsy businesses have been terminated by international postal services that are temporarily suspending delivery to the US due to the confusion surrounding the end of De Minimis.

Selene Pierangelini’s business, Apricot Rain Creations, based in Brisbane, Australia, sells ESTY crystals, candles and spiritual products, to Australia Post to deliver to American customers. More than three-quarters of its customer base comes from the US Australia Post service in the US for about a month, starting again on September 22.

Temporarily switched to FedEx and UPS – Private couriers that are more expensive than Australia post. Since it started again, the post in Australia works with zonos, a provider of cross-border shipping technology, to offer a Shipping Calculator that allows for its advance fee. They charge a fee of $1.69 and 10 percent of the fee.

Until now, imports from Australia have stuck to the 10 percent rate, the country’s basic tax. He raised his shipping costs to help cover the cost. It’s manageable, but it’s tricky, she said.

“You don’t really know how much (the cost) will be until the package clears customs in the US, and you get an invoice that is automatically paid to your account,” he said.

And his sales didn’t get it. Before taxes, his US sales were 85 percent of his total sales, and now it is 35 percent. He’s hoping people just stick around until Black Friday and the Cyber ​​Moon Holiday Deal.

In the meantime, he has resumed sales in Europe, which he had suspended until 2024 due to additional regulations. He also launched a Facebook advertising campaign and tested academic print-on-demand services from US suppliers for productivity and fulfillment.

“This situation shows how fragile small businesses can be when they depend on a single market,” said Pierangelini. “While it was scary, it also forced me to break away from being different – something that will hopefully make my business stronger and stronger.”