On the same day President Donald Trump delayed the end of trade exemptions targeting certain Chinese imports, e-commerce company Shopify published a blog post clarifying its U.S. trade policy stance.
In the post, Shopify approved “public trade” and asked regulators to provide online merchants with the freedom to expand without the constraints imposed by the geopolitical brink.
“Without small business protection, legitimate entrepreneurs suffer under policies aimed at curbing exploitation,” the post read. “This hiking cost will disrupt supply chains and hinder trade across borders.”
Shopify, a platform that hosts millions of sellers both domestically and internationally, is often defeated by the possibility of cancelling the “de minimus” rule. This provision, signed into law in 1930, allows low-cost goods to enter the United States without facing taxes.
The Trump administration argues that de minimis rules will make it difficult for customs officials to identify fentanyl shipments sent by mail. Trump moved quickly to close the rules, but on Friday he turned the course back in the face of pressure from merchants and consumers.
The grace is temporary. According to an executive order signed Friday afternoon, “the de minimis exemption will be removed again, as “the appropriate system is in place to fully and properly process and collect tariff revenue.”
Shopify says pauses should be permanent. “Minimum protection is extremely important for small businesses in international trade,” the company wrote in its post. “They exempt low-value shipments from taxes and obligations, keep costs low and improve competitiveness around the world.”
Ottawa-based Shopify heads around 10% of the global e-commerce market, promoting over $20 billion in annual cross-border sales and hedging its bets. This week, the platform widely deployed a feature that allows merchants to view and collect duties during checkout, as well as a search filter that makes it easier for consumers to shop from their home country.
In the near future, Shopify plans to release an update “to simplify handling of international sales,” the company said in a blog post.
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