How can Trump unintentionally reduce emissions from online shopping

Fast fashion giants such as Shein and TEMU are prosperous businesses in the United States in recent years, in part due to the exemption of the tariff that helped maintain low prices on the packages shipped from China.

Now, President Trump ordered the closed gap as part of the new definitions, starting with packages from China and Hong Kong. It can have an impact, perhaps unintended, on emissions in the global aviation emissions associated with the fashion industry.

Last year, 1.36 billion US package entered this gap, which is known as minimal exemption and allows commodities worth $ 800 to enter the country without a tariff. the The largest source of shipments under exemption China was, and most of these packages surrounding the plane, according to data from customs and border protection.

This means a lot of emissions aimed at the planet: flying a bundle across the sea 68 times more Carbon density from its shipment by Ocean Freight, according to The Climate Accessor, a non -profit group based in Switzerland.

23 billion dollars work

Many countries allow shipments that are less than a certain value to cross their borders without taxes. In Europe, the threshold is 150 euros. In Argentina, it is $ 400. Since 2016, when Congress increased the last minimum exemption in the two parties, the United States has drawn the line by $ 800.

These policies help simplify the customs process of small beams and prevent bottlenecks on the border. But the US exemption has also opened the door widely for foreign e -commerce platforms to compete for price with local retailers such as Amazon and Walmart.

This helped Sen to put an American position in low -cost clothes. The company gets another batch of “haul” videos on social media, where buyers offer their purchases. And TEMU, the e -commerce platform that encouraged customers to “Shop like billionaireIn the Super Bowl advertisement last year, the application was the most downloaded in the Apple App Store in 2023 and 2024.

DE Minimis annual shipments of the United States increased by nearly ten times in the past decade or so, as it rose to 1.36 billion in 2024 from 140 million in 2013. According to the estimates of the National Bureau of National Customs, its value amounted to about 23 billion dollars last year.

President Joe Biden announced a campaign on these shipments last fall, pointing to concerns about compliance with health and safety, and potential smuggling such as fentianil and intellectual property rights.

Trump also ordered the minimum exemptions in February, but he returned al -Qaeda a few days later, amid concerns about implementation. He announced the end of the exemption again in April as part of the broader tariff package.

The gradual elimination of the new rules will be eliminated in the coming weeks, with the narrowest effects on June 1. The Trump administration has suggested fees of up to $ 200 per package or 120 percent of the package value, with the conveyor choice to apply, on the shipments of Hong Kong China.

A billion package, in addition to greenhouse gases

Josh Artcher, a senior international company activist at Stand.earth, a non -profit group of the environment, said before the epidemic, AirFeright was largely used for damageable commodities. It was partially because charging across the air, although it is more expensive, is faster than shipping by sea. But the introduction of Amazon to charge charging for one day changed the expectations of consumers about the rapid arrival of their packages, and other retailers intensified their use of air cargo to compete.

Saudi air charge emissions grew by 25 percent between 2019 and 2023, according to Artcher Research.

In 2024, more than a billion US package entered through travel conditions under minimal exemption, or about eight each family. Last year, The facts of the estimated advisory goods TEMU, Shein, Alibaba.com and Tiktok were flying the equivalent of about 108 Boeing 777 firmly firmly cargo planes every day.

“It was just an absolute explosion in the Strip that we have no solution to remove carbon,” said Archer.

Shen did not respond or Timo to comment requests.

What next?

Trump’s failed attempt to close the gap in February presented a glimpse of what might happen.

After announcing the end of the exemption, sales on the shein began to decline. Three days later, they decreased by 41 percent compared to the same day in the previous week, according to the analysis of the Bloomberg II scale for credit card and discount card. TEMU has seen a similar, albeit smaller, decreasing in sales.

This change may shake e -commerce even if sales are not achieved: companies can turn to send much larger charges to US warehouses by Ocean Freight instead of sending individual packages upon request. This may mean decreased tariffs, with a possible side benefit from low emissions as well.

TEMU is already, and said about half of the required products in the United States are delivered from local warehouses.

Can “the end of the world” remain wild?

Crowds of tourists heading to the Antarctica brought prosperity to Oshoya, the city of Argentina in the far south. A decade ago, about 35,500 passengers in Antarctica set out on USHUAA cruises ships. Last year, this number was about 111,500. But the boom is too Click on the local population and emphasize the environment. – Lotaro Greenspan