Trump’s tariffs can change the US technology industry

Known as a release from De Minimis, it was used by Chinese shopping giants Shane and Tem Keep the prices of their products Low for Americans. But release is also important for markets like eBay and etsy, which allow people in the US to buy goods from sellers based in China.

Removing the measure can also adversely affect Amazon, which has recently launched a division for affordable products in China, which competes directly with Temu and Shein. Amazon did not immediately answer a request for comment.

Trump I tried to scrap De minimis development for Chinese packages in February through a separate executive order, but he quickly walked back to the measure after her it became clear The fact that US customs and border protection does not have the resources to check millions of additional packages a day and to ensure that the right connected tariffs have been paid. His new command says that duty -free release will disappear on May 2, giving CBP a few weeks to prepare.

Ram Ben Zion, co -founder and CEO of Publican, a digital shipment platform, says Trump intends to use the elimination of De Minimis as a negotiating chip in negotiations with China, because if the policy is indeed defective and replaced by high tariffs, it can convert online shopping.

“The magnitude and importance of this, if it eventually comes into force, is gigantic,” says Ben Zion. “This can dramatically change e -commerce. This can drastically change some of the giants we have known in the last few years.”

However, some technology companies, especially those that are already strengthened in areas such as logistics and data analysis, can see opportunities in Trump’s commercial policies. Almost immediately after the Tariffs announcement, the defense contractor publishes a Blog post The promotion of an artificial intelligence service that the company boasts is integrating a “wide range of data sources” to help business guarantee that “tariff solutions report the full operational context.”

Jay Gerrard, head of customs and logistics, in Mexico -based urban technological and logistics, launched Nuvocargo, says that as much as he hates tariffs, they have created more demand for the services of his company. Nuvocargo works as a cargo broker between Mexico and the US and sells software that helps customers get their goods across the US border. It also helps them process customs documents. The company now predicts an increase in customer activity for April, May and June, predicting that tariffs will strengthen the business.

Still, last month was a “chaos” for importers and freight forwarders, Gerard says, leaving many of them in expensive retention models. In early March, Trump struck a 25 percent tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports just to return it a few days later. In this short time, Gerard says that if a truck crossed the border, the petitioner paid the fee.

“If they were importing $ 100,000 drinks that day,” he explains, “they paid $ 25,000 debts. If the truck crossed a day later, it disappeared.”