KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaicans shopping from online retailers like Shein could be paying more for goods in the coming months following the imposition of an additional 10 per cent tariff on imports from the Asian country by United States (US) President Donald Trump.

“The thing that probably might happen, we don’t know as yet, is that [Jamaicans] could pay a bit more for shipping packages from those places, for example, in taxes at checkout,” said Darien Ricketts, managing director at Reques-a-Product, a local shipping company.

Trump signed three separate executive orders (EO’s) on February 1, imposing a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada, a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Mexico and 10 per cent on Chinese imports.

While the tariffs on Canada and Mexico have been suspended temporarily, the order on Chinese imports took effect on Tuesday, February 4th.

For Jamaican shoppers, a crucial part of that executive order is the revocation of the de minimis tax exemption, which allowed packages under USD$800 (per consumer, per day) to be shipped directly to American consumers free of duty and taxes, and with less scrutiny from officials.

The exemption was particularly useful for retailers like Shein and Temu which forgo brick-and-mortar stores, instead shipping directly to buyers.

The vast majority, 83 per cent, of US online shopping imports were packages shipped under this exemption, according to an executive briefing on trade published by the US International Trade Commission. And more than half of those came from China alone, which accounted for 64 per cent of the 2.3 billion imported between 2018 and 2021.

Ricketts said a lot of what Jamaicans purchase also comes from the Asian country.

“The majority of the packages that are being shipped to Jamaica. They are mainly from like China actually like Temu, Shein, Alipress and so on,” he explained.

With the advent of local Jamaican shipping companies like Reques utilising US shipping addresses to allow Jamaicans to shop online and ship their packages home, residents locally also likely benefitted from the de minimis exemption.

With Tuesday’s order, that exemption no longer applies to Chinese-made imports. Not only will they be taxed but the clearance process will be altered.

“Without regard to their value, no mail shipments from China will be cleared or released unless and until formal entry is properly filed,” said a Department of Homeland Security document outlining the changes.

Another shipping company executive, who did not wish to be identified, told Observer Online that while the 10 per cent tax would definitely be added to products at these popular retailers, there could possibly be a delayed effect.

“A lot of Temu and Shein items are shipped in bulk and stored in large warehouses in America, those items would not be taxed,” the shipping company exec explained.

Ricketts was in agreement, “Some of these companies even though they are from China have warehouses in the US. One of the main reasons why they do that, based on my information, is to help minimise the cost of shipping.”

However, those stockpiles won’t last forever and both men confirmed that any items shipped to warehouses after the EO would be subject to the new tariffs.

Included under the tariffs are products made in Hong Kong and China shipped after February 1st. The tariff will be collected as ten per cent of the value of the product.

Just over a week before the tariffs were announced officially, Shein Executive Chairman Donald Tang in speaking to CNBC had refused to comment on whether prices would be raised; but said the retailer should still be able to provide its characteristic low-cost clothing as long as any tariffs were applied “equally”.

Chinese-made products that sell for cheap have altered the local shopping landscape in Jamaica with many small businesses purchasing in bulk for resale and ordinary consumers making use of the country’s US$100 duty-free threshold to import items for personal use.

Ricketts says, recognising this, Reques-a-Product and other similar companies are working on cutting the US out of the China to Jamaica shipping link.

“We are trying to see how we can have our own Chinese shipping address. We would ship packages straight from China to Jamaica so that even if the US says they are banning all packages from China, it shouldn’t affect [us],” he added.

Rickets said this would be useful: “If people have small businesses or want to get stuff in bulk for a reasonable price”.

He added, “Based on the information I’ve gathered so far, it takes less than 30 business days. So it won’t be an entire month’s wait to get your package.”

China has retaliated with tariffs of their own on certain US goods, to begin on February 10.

State Media Xinhua reported that an additional 15 per cent tariff will be imposed on imported coal and liquefied natural gas originating from the US and crude oil, agricultural machinery, automobiles with large displacement, and pickup trucks will be subject to additional tariffs of 10 per cent.