A Truce in the US-China Trade War? And what it means for your ecommerce business

UPDATE: I’d like to share the latest updates from the US-China Trade War:

The 90 day truce will expire on March 1st and tariffs will go rise 10% to 25% on the $200 billion unless both sides reach a deal.

Reportedly both sides are far apart as a US Trade Delegation is visiting Beijing this week – it’s been like “Like Pulling Teeth”.

In a surprise move – Trump says he’s OPEN to let the March 1st deadline “SLIDE” if a deal is imminent.  We’ll see how this pans out in the next few weeks.

-Gary

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Last week President Trump and President Xi met in Argentina over a dinner meeting during the G20 Summit.  Besides probably having an amazing steak dinner, they reached an agreement to set a 90 day truce or halt in the trade war while both parties sit down at the negotiating table to restore balance in trade

The White House released a statement saying that China has agreed to purchase significant “agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the US”.

Also China is allegedly considering allowing more access to its market, greater protection for intellectual property, and stopping exports of drug fentanyl into the US markets which has led to much abuse and deaths.  The specifics of the treaty are beyond the scope of what we’re concerned with but as e-commerce sellers.

But here is the Key takeaway as far as you’re concerned.

A 90 day truce in the trade tariffs means that the $200bn in tariffs will be kept at 10% during the truce.  They will not be raised to 25% on Jan 1, 2019 as previously believed

But at end of 90 days, if no agreement is reached, then the tariffs will jump to 25% as previously stated according to White House representative Jill Sanders.

What does this mean?

The good news is that if your products are part of the $200bn package, then your tariffs will be kept at 10% during the truce as both sides are negotiating for a deal.  They will not rise to 25% on Jan 1, 2019.

However you’re not out of the woods yet.

Whether there will be a “Real Deal” as Trump calls it or more clashing between both sides, time will tell!

But at least the tariffs are not increasing as far as we’re concerned in the next 90 days.  

Not sure if your products are covered in the tariffs?  

The US Trade Representative office has released an online search tool that lets you search for your product by HS Code to see if they are included in the tariffs.  You can access it here:

How to Navigate the Section 301 Tariff Process

To be continued..

Gary

Author: Gary

I work with many Amazon sellers to help them source from China. I’ve managed multimillion dollar sourcing campaigns and have been sourcing from China since 2008. I also am an Amazon Private Label seller myself so I know what you’re going through. My goal is to teach you how to source from China quickly and easily so you can own a 7-figure online business.

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