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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
With a key tariff loophole gone, here’s what happens now to your | |
matcha, K-beauty and gadget orders | |
By Ramishah Maruf, CNN | |
Updated: | |
7:09 AM EDT, Fri August 29, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
The Trump administration has just wreaked havoc on one of the greatest | |
coping mechanisms of our time: online shopping. | |
Many of the cheaper products that US customers like to buy used to fall | |
under the , which allowed items worth less than $800 to flow into the | |
United States duty-free. But on Friday, that trade perk expired. | |
The global economy thrives on trends. Matcha, the ceremonial drink that | |
is now a staple at every hipster coffee shop, comes from select | |
Japanese vendors. Beauty aficionados can’t get enough of sunscreens | |
and serums imported from South Korea. Let’s not get into China-made | |
Labubus (and Lafufus). And tinned fish? The best comes from Europe. | |
Many young people say they do not feel financially secure, so big | |
purchases like cars and homes tend to be out of reach. Instead, Gen Z | |
loves a small pick-me-up that could be as simple as a pastry, specialty | |
coffee or a cute plush. In July, Bank of America that 57% of Gen Z buy | |
themselves a small “treat” at least once a week, with 59% saying | |
it leads to overspending. | |
in the latest executive order, most goods shipped internationally will | |
now be subject to the tariffs of the country of origin – even the | |
cheap ones. Those new duties will be about $80 per item for a country | |
with a tariff rate less than 16%, $160 per item for a country of a | |
tariff rate between 16% and 25%, and $200 per item for a country with | |
a tariff rate above 25%. Some of that cost could be passed down to | |
consumers. | |
A around the world already suspended parcel shipments to the US ahead | |
of the de minimis expiration due to logistical challenges and tariff | |
uncertainty. International postal powerhouse also paused many of its | |
shipments to the US, joining other European carriers. | |
Here’s what to expect with your online orders this week. | |
What types of products are impacted? | |
The Trump administration for goods coming out of China in May amid the | |
US-China trade war. However, Friday’s action eliminated that trade | |
perk for every other nation. | |
That cuts off the approximately 4 million de minimis shipments US | |
Customs and Border Protection it processes a day, up from 2.8 million | |
last year. While fast fashion companies such as Shein and Temu have | |
been shoring up their US warehouses, more niche products that ship | |
directly from their countries of origin are more vulnerable to tariffs. | |
For example, Olive Young, the Sephora of K-beauty websites, announced a | |
15% customs duty on all orders going to the US starting August 27. | |
(That’s the US tariff rate on goods from South Korea.) | |
Others have stopped shipping altogether. Distributors of Japanese | |
matcha, such as and Marukyu Koyamaen, suspended US delivery early this | |
week until “further notice.” | |
“Because the costs and processes remain unclear at this time, we have | |
made the very difficult decision to pause all U.S. shipments starting | |
August 26, 2025, until we find a clear path forward,” Emeri, which is | |
based in Canada, said this month. | |
The company also claimed that the elimination of de minimis | |
particularly crushed small businesses. | |
I have a package on the way. What now? | |
Days before Friday, many postal services around the world announced | |
that they would suspend service. So Devin Knight, vice president of | |
transportation at third-party logistics company ShipMonk, said that if | |
you have a package on the way, check how it was shipped. | |
If it’s a courier company that already has a process to collect and | |
remit duties and taxes built into their networks, such as UPS, FedEx | |
and DHL Express, the package should arrive on time, he said. | |
But if a service has paused deliveries and the arrival date is well | |
after Friday, Knight said his best guidance would be “trying to get | |
it returned right away.” | |
That’s because if a service doesn’t find a way to remit that | |
payment, “it either gets returned at a cost or it gets disposed | |
of,” he said, adding that’s the worst-case scenario beyond a delay | |
in arrival. | |
Why has shipping been halted? | |
PostEurop, a trade group representing European postal services, said | |
that they received shipping guidance from US Customs and Border | |
Protection on August 15. This only gave them two weeks to completely | |
overhaul a complex shipping system, with many questions on duties still | |
unanswered. | |
Postal operators “simply want to avoid that mountains of backlogged | |
mail or packets are built (up) at the airports or upon arrival in the | |
US. So they have to be sure that they can put solutions in place which | |
are reliable, viable, sustainable and compliant to the new US rules,” | |
Botond Szebenym, PostEurop’s secretary general, said. | |
How can businesses deliver your packages now? | |
Notably, DHL said that shipping is still possible via DHL Express, but | |
will include the cost of the new tariffs. That’s because, as Knight | |
noted, DHL Express already has a system in place to get packages | |
cleared by customs. | |
With all the uncertainty, DHL Express “would be the one I’d | |
recommend you use to make sure it goes as well as possible,” Knight | |
told CNN. He added that carriers with similar capabilities are FedEx or | |
UPS. | |
DHL also said that people can still send low-cost gifts worth less than | |
$100 as a standard parcel. | |
What happens once shipping services all resume? | |
Online shopping probably won’t go back to the cheap and efficient way | |
it used to be, even once international carriers resume service to the | |
US. | |
Brands have already posted notices they will be applying customs duties | |
to US shoppers. That’s because they’ve had a sense this was coming | |
since February, when Trump his first round of tariffs, said Erin | |
Williamson, vice president of US customs brokerage at logistics company | |
GEODIS. | |
Customers can also expect longer shipping times from international | |
destinations due to the extra customs barriers, she said. | |
However, it’s not clear at this point how long it will take for each | |
postal service to resume service. That will depend on each country. | |
“Everybody is used to getting their package within five days,” | |
Williamson said. “In my opinion, that’s going to be impacted a | |
little bit.” | |
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