The growing postal boycott of the U.S. is the latest proof that eliminating the de minimis tariff exemption on goods valued $800 or less is a shortsighted policy. As Taxpayers Protection Alliance Chief Regulatory Analyst Juan M. Londoño noted in a recent piece for The Baltimore Sun, “Under the executive order [ending the de minimis exemption], international suppliers will have two options: either pay the tariffs as a percentage of the package value or pay a simplified flat fee that starts at $80 and can go as high as $200 per package, depending on the effective tariff rate of the country of origin. Suddenly, [a] $17 bag of Colombian coffee could cost you a whopping $97. Justifiably, you go back to the lesser-quality option that you could find at the grocery store, which will also likely be higher in price (and probably not from the U.S.).”
As the recent postal news demonstrates, this harsh immediate impact on U.S. consumers is just the start of the problems. When consumers cannot get their products from foreign posts, they are suddenly faced with far fewer options at a significantly higher price. And if they need a product from one of the many countries boycotting the U.S., they may need to ship the product in a convoluted and costly way.
