Final month, Suzanne Smith-Darley felt improbable. She had simply purchased a used Chanel purse from a Japanese vendor on eBay for $800—a steal in comparison with the unique asking value of $1,400. A few week later an e mail arrived that crushed her: DHL was demanding a $142 charge for US tariffs earlier than it might ship the well-worn medallion tote to Smith-Darley’s Atlanta doorstep. “It goes to Japan, has a complete life, and it might be within the trash actually,” she says. “I’m prepared to select it out of the trash, and I get this large tariff. It’s ridiculous.”
Tariffs imposed this yr by President Donald Trump have triggered higher prices and decreased selection, and a few customers have been shocked to study that the taxes apply to used items.
A number of on-line marketplaces, together with eBay and Vestiaire Collective, have been urging lawmakers and officers in Washington, DC, to exempt used objects from import duties, together with these lately imposed by President Trump, in line with business executives. “We’re nonetheless a maturing business, however we’re the long run,” says Rachel Kibbe, CEO of American Round Textiles, an advocacy group that represents about 30 organizations, together with Vestiaire Collective, that make, repair, lease, promote, recycle, or resell garments. “We’d identical to preferential commerce therapy for secondhand imports.”
However a carve-out for used objects doesn’t look like within the works, in line with an individual near the White Home who requested for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. An exemption would probably lead importers to attempt to cross off new objects as used, creating an extra enforcement burden for a authorities that’s already stretched thin by Trump’s “government efficiency” efforts.
Historians say used imports, from ancient jewelry to outdated smartphones, have all the time been topic to US tariffs. They observe that the idea of duties on pre-owned wares dates again to at the very least medieval-era commerce. However Trump has utilized tariffs to many extra nations and raised charges to historically high levels. The mixture has prompted folks to query the advantages of tariffs and has led to elevated requires reprieves. “We’ve by no means had a state of affairs like this earlier than,” says Andrew Wender Cohen, a historian at Syracuse College who research commerce historical past.
Trump has described his insurance policies as mandatory to extend domestic manufacturing, and it’s doable to see how, over time, charges that discourage the import of recent clothes and devices might immediate some corporations to shift at the very least a part of their manufacturing to the US. It’s miles tougher to examine a payoff from making use of those self same tariffs to used items which might be destined for brand new properties as an alternative of landfills.
Cohen says an affordable method could be to take care of tariffs on used objects however at decrease charges that might be commensurate with the chance posed to home manufacturing.
Some secondhand items haven’t any options; new variations might not be interesting, or the product could also be discontinued. Wanting abroad might also be unavoidable for area of interest objects, like buying and selling playing cards and used purses. Circular economy advocates contend that reuse, even when it entails an merchandise crossing nationwide borders, nonetheless might produce some environmental profit by slicing waste. “There ought to be insurance policies that encourage folks to decide on used objects first,” says Liisa Jokinen, founding father of the classic clothes app Gem.
“Pre-Cherished”
As customers search out merchandise which might be extra sustainable for the atmosphere and their wallets, a brand new provide chain has emerged. Retailers now refurbish and resell used objects similar to clothes and electronics, and a rising variety of on-line marketplaces have made it simpler for Individuals to supply these things from virtually anyplace on the planet.
Earlier this yr, eBay’s Japanese unit disclosed surging demand for secondhand cameras as folks panic-shopped earlier than Trump’s tariffs took impact. Worldwide, about 40 % of eBay’s product sales come from what it calls “pre-loved and refurbished objects.”
