EBay and Vestiaire Collective want an exemption from the Trump rates

Last month, Suzanne Smith-Darley felt fantastic. He had just bought a Chanel bag used by a Japanese seller on eBay for $ 800, a theft compared to the original price of $ 1,400. About a week later an e-mail arrived that crushed it: DHL asked for a commission of $ 142 for the US rates before it delivered the medallion tote well consumed to the Smith-Darley Atlanta door. “He goes to Japan, has a whole life and could literally be in the trash,” he says. “I am willing to choose it from the garbage and I get this huge fare. It is ridiculous.”

The rates imposed this year by President Donald Trump have triggered higher prices and a reduction in the selection and some buyers have been surprised to learn that taxes apply to used assets.

Several online markets, including eBay And Vestiaire Collective, they urged the legislators and officials of Washington, DC, to exempt the articles used by import duties, including those recently imposed by President Trump, according to the managers of the sector. “We are still an industry maturity, but we are the future”, says Rachel Kibe, CEO of American Circular Textiles, a defense group that represents about 30 organizations, including Vestiaire Collective, Fila, Fix, Rent, Sell, Recycle or Restaell. “We would just like preferential commercial treatment for second -hand imports.”

But a carving for used objects does not seem to be in progress, according to a person close to the White House who asked for anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions. An exemption would probably lead importers to try to transmit new objects used, creating a further burden of application for a government that is already stretched by the efforts of “government efficiency” of Trump.

Historians say they used imports, from Ancient jewels For obsolete smartphones, they have always been subject to US rates. They note that the concept of duties on used articles dates back to the trade at least of the medieval era. But Trump has applied rates to many more countries and has increased rates at historically high levels. The combination prompted people to question the benefits of rates and led to an increase in requests for reservoirs. “We have never had a situation like this first,” says Andrew Wender Cohen, historian of the University of Syracuse that studies the history of trade.

Trump has described his necessary policies to increase internal production and it is possible to see how, over time, the taxes that discourage the import of new clothing and gadgets could push some companies to move at least part of their production to the United States. It is much more difficult to provide a profit from applying those same rates to used assets intended for new houses instead of landfills.

Cohen says that a reasonable approach would be to maintain rates on used articles, but at lower rates that would be commensurate with the risk represented to internal production.

Some second -hand articles have no alternatives; New versions may not be attractive or the product can be interrupted. Looking abroad can also be inevitable for niche objects, such as commercial cards and used bags. The supporters of the circular economy argue that reuse, even when it involves an object that crosses national borders, can still produce some environmental benefits by cutting waste. “There should be politicians who first encourage people to choose used objects,” says Lisa Jokinen, founder of the Gem of the vintage clothing app.

“Pre-amateous”

Since consumers are looking for more sustainable products for the environment and their wallets, a new supply chain has emerged. Merchants now renew and resell used objects such as clothing and electronics, and an increasing number of online markets has made it easier for Americans to obtain these articles from almost everywhere in the world.

At the beginning of this year, the Japanese eBay unit disclosed The question for second -hand cameras while people moved to panic before Trump’s rates had effect. All over the world, about 40 percent of gross sales of eBay come What Call “pre-amateous and renewed articles”.