International delivery firm ParcelHero predicts a boom for businesses shipping to the US following a change in US law tomorrow (March 10), which simplifies shipping to the United States by raising the import minimum value limit from $200 (around £140) to $800 (around £560) before duties and taxes are imposed. It also means goods below $800 won’t need to go through formal customs procedures, speeding up deliveries into the US.
This means that British businesses could receive many more orders and save £1000’s on delays and red tape when selling to the US under the new law. ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks MILT says: ‘Many British products previously fell foul of the USA’s $200 limit (just £140) before duties and taxes were applied. These duties usually had to be paid for by the recipient. . It made our products less competitive than those purchased within the US, as most items valued over $200 had duties imposed on them, at a rate ranging from 0 per cent to 37.5 per cent with the average duty rate being 5.63 per cent.’
The new higher limit covers most goods sold by the majority of the UK’s smaller internet retailers such as marketplace traders and many products sold by SME companies. It also reduces costs and paperwork for businesses, simplify the shipping of goods to the United States.
Says David: ‘The US is the top non-EU destination for exports for the UK’s SMEs, 35per cent of SME exporters ship regularly to the USA. The new threshold – around £560 at today’s exchange rate – on items before they must have duties and taxes imposed covers the majority of items for our online retailers and smaller manufacturers.’
David has a word of warning for exporters of some products though: ‘Some US Government agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, may still require formal customs entries on all goods, regardless of value. Do ensure your item does not fall above the $800 threshold or the recipient will have to pay duties – not great if it’s a present, for example.
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