Final month, Suzanne Smith-Darley felt unbelievable. 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 couple of week later an electronic mail arrived that crushed her: DHL was demanding a $142 payment for US tariffs earlier than it could ship the well-worn medallion tote to Smith-Darley’s Atlanta doorstep. “It goes to Japan, has an entire 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 greater costs and decreased choice, and a few consumers have been stunned 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 gadgets from import duties, together with these just lately imposed by President Trump, in keeping with trade executives. “We’re nonetheless a maturing trade, however we’re the longer term,” says Rachel Kibbe, CEO of American Round Textiles, an advocacy group that represents about 30 organizations, together with Vestiaire Collective, that make, repair, hire, promote, recycle, or resell garments. “We might similar to preferential commerce therapy for secondhand imports.”
However a carve-out for used gadgets doesn’t seem like within the works, in keeping with an individual near the White Home who requested for anonymity as a result of sensitivity of the discussions. An exemption would doubtless lead importers to attempt to move off new gadgets as used, creating an extra enforcement burden for a authorities that’s already stretched skinny by Trump’s “authorities effectivity” efforts.
Historians say used imports, from ancient jewelry to outdated smartphones, have at all times been topic to US tariffs. They be aware that the idea of duties on pre-owned wares dates again to not less than medieval-era commerce. However Trump has utilized tariffs to many extra international locations and raised charges to traditionally excessive ranges. The mix 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 vital to extend home manufacturing, and it’s potential to see how, over time, charges that discourage the import of latest clothes and devices may immediate some firms to shift not less than a part of their manufacturing to the US. It is tougher to check a payoff from making use of those self same tariffs to used items which are destined for brand spanking new properties as a substitute of landfills.
Cohen says an affordable method can be to take care of tariffs on used gadgets however at decrease charges that may be commensurate with the danger posed to home manufacturing.
Some secondhand gadgets don’t have any alternate options; new variations might not be interesting, or the product could also be discontinued. Trying abroad may additionally be unavoidable for area of interest gadgets, like buying and selling playing cards and used purses. Round economic system advocates contend that reuse, even when it includes an merchandise crossing nationwide borders, nonetheless could produce some environmental profit by slicing waste. “There must be insurance policies that encourage folks to decide on used gadgets first,” says Liisa Jokinen, founding father of the classic clothes app Gem.
“Pre-Beloved”
As customers search out merchandise which are extra sustainable for the setting and their wallets, a brand new provide chain has emerged. Retailers now refurbish and resell used gadgets resembling clothes and electronics, and a rising variety of on-line marketplaces have made it simpler for People to supply these things from virtually wherever on this 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 gadgets.”