Pictured from left to right are Kimberly Wotherspoon, Head of Online Sales & Marketing for Lumbermart (eBay Canada’s Exporter of the Year for 2015), Raj Grewal, Member of Parliament Brampton East and Member of the Standing Committee on Finance, and Andrea Stairs, Managing Director of eBay Canada

Last week, Andrea Stairs, eBay Canada’s Managing Director, testified in front of the Government of Canada’s Standing Committee on Finance as a part of budget consultations the Committee is hosting across the country. Andrea’s testimony focused on how Canadian customs policies can be modified to drive economic prosperity in Canada. Her feedback will be used to inform policy development as the Government of Canada prepares to table a federal budget in the first part of 2017. 

Specifically, Andrea’s testimony focused on encouraging policymakers in Canada to increase Canada’s low-value customs “de minimis” threshold. The de minimis threshold is the value below which goods can be shipped into a country before duty and taxes are assessed. Canada currently has a de minimis threshold of $20, which means that Canadian buyers that spend $20 or more with international eBay sellers will have their purchases subject to heightened duty, tax, and customs clearance processes when they cross the Canadian border. This $20 threshold, which was originally set in the early 1980’s prior to the birth of ecommerce, compares to a $800 threshold in the United States. 

Andrea’s testimony focused on describing how an increase in Canada’s de minimis would enable eBay buyers in Canada to have fair access to the items they need. Ecommerce notably gives rural Canadians or Canadians with physical limitations access to goods that are otherwise hard to find. Andrea’s testimony also cited a study from the CD Howe institute that found an increase in the de minimis level from $20 to $80 would benefit Canadian businesses by more than $100 million in reduced red tape and other factors, and would have a net positive effect on Canadian revenue collection, thereby creating benefit for Canadian tax payers.

Check back for future updates on how eBay is advocating across the globe to remove barriers to small businesses selling internationally.