eBay Canada has long advocated for trade policies that lessen the burden on Canadian consumers and small businesses (SMBs) who want to participate in the global economy. As we understand it right now, the Canadian de minimis provision in the USMCA applies only to shipments made by private courier; it does nothing to change the 30-year-old threshold for postal shipments. As such, it is a failure for Canadian taxpayers, consumers and small- and medium sized businesses. This new two-tier threshold – which only applies to the small minority of products shipped by private courier into Canada – has further convoluted border policies without meaningfully benefitting consumers or SMBs. Canadians will now have to remember and manage three thresholds — $20 for postal shipments, $40 for tax on courier shipments, and $150 for duty on courier shipments. Clearly, these new thresholds will do nothing to enhance predictability for Canadian consumers or competitiveness for Canadian small businesses. They are also fundamentally at odds with the government’s aspiration for Canada to be an innovative and competitive global trade leader.” – Andrea Stairs, General Manager, eBay Canada & Latin America
