文章探讨了美国前总统特朗普试图取消800美元以下包裹免税政策对跨境电商物流的影响。该政策曾短暂实施，导致物流混乱。文章指出，这一政策变化对中国电商平台和美国消费者造成冲击，特别是Shein和Temu等平台。文章分析了电商平台应对关税的准备，以及关税对中美贸易的影响，强调了电商的核心价值在于商品选择、质量、速度和价格。文章揭示了电商平台预见到政策变化，并为此做了准备，但实际影响可能超出预期。
📦 美国曾试图取消800美元以下包裹的免税政策，导致物流混乱。2月时，货运飞机停飞，货物积压，物流公司面临困境。
📉 关税政策对中美贸易造成严重影响。由于对中国进口商品征收145%的关税，而中国对美国进口商品征收125%的关税，导致许多贸易活动变得无利可图。
🛍️ Shein和Temu等中国电商平台和美国消费者受到波及。这些平台依赖低价值商品运输，关税政策直接影响其业务模式。
💡 电商平台早已预见到政策变化并做好准备。他们清楚取消免税政策是必然趋势，并进行了相应的应对措施，但实际挑战可能超出预期。
This commentary first appeared on ChannelNewsAsia (CNA). Republished here with permission. You can access the other commentaries from Jianggan Li on CNA as well.
“Total chaos.” A friend who heads a cross-border e-commerce logistics company told me what happened on the ground in February – the last time United States President Donald Trump tried to end the de minimis exemption that allowed parcels valued US$800 and below to enter the US tax-free.
Scheduled cargo planes failed to depart from China to the US; goods that had been flown in piled up at customs, as were the halls with people – like my friend, many companies had sent employees out to deal with the mess. Add on the 10 per cent extra tariff on Chinese imports Mr Trump had ordered to effect on the same day, and logistics companies did not know how and how much to charge their client.
That policy change was paused on Feb 5, after slightly more than 24 hours it came into effect, during which the authorities and US Postal Service (a major delivery player of low-value parcels) made a lot of sometimes conflicting changes and U-turns.
Low-value parcels from China are now set to lose their tax-free status more definitively from Friday (May 2), an order made on Mr Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” when he slapped tariffs on all trading partners.
The de minimis rule had allowed parcels valued US$800 and below to be exempted from US duties. Low-value imports from China are set to lose this tax-free status from May 2. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
With Chinese imports to the US tariffed at 145 per cent and the converse at 125 per cent, many trades between the two have been rendered economically unviable.
And caught in the middle of the waiting game to see who will be the first one to blink are Chinese ecommerce platforms, notably Shein and Temu, and US consumers.
E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS SAW THIS COMING
The leaders of major platforms and logistics companies have been clear-headed all this while. They cannot afford not to, with billions of low-value shipments to the US.
The end of de minimis rule would come – they saw that coming long before Mr Trump started his second term. The February chaos was simply a dry run, or even a deliberate stress test.
In fact, the challenges they anticipated went far beyond their parcels costing more because of the nominal tariffs levied.
To understand why, remember that e-commerce is a game of four core consumer value propositions: selection, quality, speed and savings.
The post Chinese e-commerce giants were prepared for tariffs, but not like this first appeared on The Low Down - Momentum Works.
