On February 4, the US House of Representatives passed HR 4521, the America COMPETES Act, a package of bills aimed at strengthening economic competitiveness and national security measures. As a platform whose core purpose is to create economic opportunity for all, eBay believes that any measures to strengthen the national economy must benefit not just large industries, but also small businesses and individuals. While there are positive provisions in the legislation in this regard, there are a number of provisions in the bill that will harm Americans selling online- threatening to limit competition in the ecommerce marketplace, and ultimately reduce choice and raise prices for American consumers. 

eBay supports the House’s inclusion of the updated INFORM Act, authored by Representatives Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), in the America COMPETES Act. While the original version of this legislation would have imposed burdensome information collection requirements for small businesses and individuals, the new language would provide a nationwide standard and strikes an appropriate balance, improving transparency for consumers, while also protecting seller privacy. eBay strongly supports this language, and appreciates the work of the bill’s authors to include it in the package.

While the INFORM Act represents a balanced approach, the SHOP SAFE Act, which was also included in the America COMPETES Act, poses a serious threat to Americans selling online - particularly small businesses and individuals. The bill goes well beyond the purported goal of consumer safety to pit even the smallest online sellers up against big brands- shifting the playing field in favor of some of the largest companies in the world. Additionally, the bill includes burdensome disclosure requirements that raise serious privacy concerns. Legislation that aims to improve American economic competitiveness should not limit economic opportunity for millions of people who sell online. eBay opposes this language, and urges Congress to remove the SHOP SAFE Act from the bill.

In addition to the SHOP SAFE Act, the bill includes the “Import Security and Fairness Act,” which would eliminate the $800 customs de minimis threshold for certain countries, enabling certain duty-free transactions.  Ecommerce has connected buyers and sellers around the world for over 25 years, enabling sellers of all sizes to trade globally and compete with large multinational companies at unprecedented rates. Customs policies that add red tape at the border threaten to stifle that interconnected commerce- raising prices for consumers and small businesses who import goods, and threatening access to global markets for the 97% of American small businesses that use eBay to export overseas. This legislation represents a step backward for global commerce for small businesses and individuals, without providing any additional security or screening benefits. eBay opposes this legislation, and urges Congress to remove it from any final package.

Finally, eBay opposes language included in S 1260 US Innovation and Competitiveness Act (USICA) - the Senate’s version of the package - that would add burdensome country of origin labeling requirements for US sellers. As currently written, this legislation would require sellers in the US to disclose the country in which a product was manufactured, with no exemptions for goods that are used, vintage, or lack original packaging. eBay supports common sense transparency policies, but as drafted, this language would impose unworkable burdens on Americans selling online. eBay is encouraged that the House of Representatives did not include this legislation in its version of the bill, and urges Congress to remove it from any final package.

As Congress moves toward combining the America COMPETES Act and USICA into a comprehensive bill, eBay will continue to advocate for policies that promote economic opportunity for individual and small business sellers, and urges Congress to continue to promote economic competitiveness for all Americans.