In the current wave of booming global trade, cross-border logistics is like the lifeblood connecting the economies of various countries. Its smoothness directly determines whether goods can flow efficiently in the international market. The double-clearance and tax-inclusive service, a much-favored one-stop solution in the cross-border logistics field, has opened up a hassle-free trade channel for numerous import and export merchants.
Merchants only need to deliver their goods to professional logistics companies, and the subsequent complex matters such as export customs declaration, import clearance, and payment of import duties are all handled by the logistics companies. However, beneath the seemingly calm surface, every change in US tariff policies is like a “butterfly effect” in this trade chain, profoundly and comprehensively affecting every key aspect of the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service.
I. What Exactly is the Double-Clearance and Tax-Inclusive Service?
The double-clearance and tax-inclusive service, simply put, allows the shipper to completely bid farewell to the cumbersome customs clearance procedures and tariff payment matters. When a merchant enters into a cooperation with a logistics company providing such services, from the moment the goods leave the home country, the logistics company, with its professional customs declaration team and extensive customs resources, is responsible for handling the export customs declaration procedures to ensure the smooth departure of the goods.
When the goods arrive at the US port, it is also the logistics company that steps forward to handle all the import clearance matters, including accurately calculating and paying the import duties. This highly integrated service model greatly simplifies the cross-border trade process, enabling merchants to focus more on core business aspects such as product research and development and market expansion. However, it should be noted that its operation mechanism is closely intertwined with US tariff policies, and any slight change in the tariff policies may disrupt the existing service balance.
II. Impact on Costs
Although the US currently maintains a tax-free policy for goods worth less than $800, which seemingly gives the illusion of relatively stable costs, the reality is quite different. The US tariff policies are like a changeable cloud, constantly in a state of dynamic adjustment. Driven by various factors such as the global trade pattern, industrial competition, and the domestic economic situation, the US government may adjust the tariff rates for specific goods at any time. For goods relying on the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service, once the goods involved are included in the list of rate increases, logistics providers are immediately faced with greater financial pressure because they must pre-pay this additional tax cost for their customers.
As commercial entities, logistics providers are profit-oriented. To ensure that their profit margins are not compressed, they have no choice but to pass on this additional cost to the price of the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service. As a result, for import and export merchants who have long relied on this logistics service model, the increase in transportation costs is like the first domino falling. The subsequent chain reaction is that the final selling price of the goods is forced to increase, which undoubtedly weakens the price competitiveness of the products in the highly competitive international market, thus affecting sales performance and market share.
III. Impact on Risks
(I) Inspection Risks
Even though the tax-free policy for goods worth less than $800 remains in effect, the customs department, based on its responsibility to maintain the tax collection and management order and strengthen trade supervision, has not relaxed its inspection of imported goods at all. Especially for goods imported by fully utilizing the tax-free quota, the customs is even more vigilant, strictly examining key information such as the declared value and category of the goods with a more cautious attitude. The logic behind this is that the existence of the tax-free policy may tempt some unscrupulous merchants to have “dishonest thoughts” and try to obtain improper benefits by misreporting information.
Therefore, the customs must increase the review intensity to plug these potential loopholes. Under this high-pressure situation, the inspection risks faced by the goods involved in the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service have increased dramatically. Once unfortunately subjected to inspection, the transportation process of the goods will be forcibly interrupted, wasting precious time, and often accompanied by additional costs such as storage fees and secondary handling fees due to the inspection, causing unexpected economic losses to the merchants.
(II) Compliance Risks
In the current complex and changeable tariff policy environment, the customs has extremely strict requirements for goods declaration. When merchants enjoy the preferential treatment brought by the tax-free policy, they must be extremely vigilant to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the declared information. Information such as the value of the goods and the place of origin, which may seem ordinary but are crucial, cannot be overlooked. However, in the real cross-border logistics scenario, due to the collaborative operation of multiple links involved in the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service and the batch processing of a large number of goods, deviations in the declaration link occur from time to time.
This may be due to errors in information transmission, insufficient understanding of policies by staff, or neglect of details in pursuit of efficiency. But regardless of the reason, once the customs 查实 that the declaration is inaccurate, the merchant will surely face severe penalties: fines will add insult to injury and further increase costs; tax supplements mean that the previous cost budget is completely in vain; more seriously, the goods may be seized, directly resulting in the failure of the transaction and heavy losses.
IV. Impact on Business Models
(I) Stability of Special Line Business
Take the direct mail small package special line, a common mode in cross-border logistics, as an example. Thanks to the continuous implementation of the US tax-free policy for goods worth less than $800, the business model that highly relied on this policy dividend has maintained a relatively stable development trend for a certain period. For merchants who focus on low-value goods and pursue small profits but quick turnover, the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service combined with the direct mail small package special line is still their powerful assistant to enter the US market.
In this mode, merchants can smoothly transport a large number of low-value goods to the US at a relatively low cost, meeting the local consumers’ demand for cost-effective goods and thus gaining a foothold in the niche market.
(II) Need for Model Adjustment
At the same time, we must be clearly aware that the customs’ supervision technologies and means are upgrading at an astonishing speed. With the wide application of cutting-edge technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things in the field of customs supervision, the once-existing room for non-standard operations in the traditional double-clearance and tax-inclusive model is being gradually squeezed out. The customs can more accurately grasp the true information of the goods and see through various illegal tricks.
Facing such a severe regulatory situation, if logistics providers want to survive and develop in the market, they must take the initiative to change, continuously optimize business processes, and strengthen internal management mechanisms. They need to make all-round efforts in aspects such as personnel training, information system upgrades, and refinement of operation specifications to ensure that their operation models fully meet the increasingly strict regulatory requirements and achieve compliant and stable operations.
V. Impact on Market Demand
At the end of the market – the consumer and importer levels, they have become more “savvy” when purchasing goods, and cost and risk factors have become important considerations in their decision-making. For products that originally carried high tariffs, due to the impact of changes in US tariff policies on the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service, costs have soared and risks have increased steadily, resulting in a certain degree of decline in market demand. Consumers often shy away from goods with high prices and high purchase risks; importers will also carefully consider their purchase plans due to the severe compression of profit margins.
On the contrary, for products with low tariffs or tax-free products, the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service can still maintain its attractiveness in a relatively stable policy environment. Market demand may even experience a slight increase due to the transfer of consumer preferences and the self – adjustment of the market.
However, it should be clear that the US tariff policy is only one of the key factors affecting market demand. Looking at the global situation, the complex and changeable economic situation, such as economic recession, weak recovery, and frequent trade frictions, are like dark clouds hanging over international trade, which will also have a profound impact on the demand for imported goods in the US market, thus indirectly affecting the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service market. It’s like a ship sailing in the sea, which not only has to deal with the wind and waves from one direction but also has to be vigilant against undercurrents from all directions at all times.
In conclusion, the impact of changes in US tariff policies on the double-clearance and tax-inclusive service is comprehensive and profound. Whether it is the logistics providers on the front line or the import and export merchants who are deploying in the global market, they should be like astute navigators, closely monitor the dynamic changes in US tariff policies, plan ahead, and timely adjust their business strategies. Only in this way can they ride the waves in the complex and changeable cross-border trade ocean, always maintain strong competitiveness, and achieve sustainable development.