eBay’s Political Action Committee, The Committee for Responsible Internet Commerce, hosted an event for Representative Anna Eshoo (D/CA). eBay’s San Jose campus is located in Rep. Eshoo’s district and Rep. Eshoo has been a champion for Internet-enabled entrepreneurs for many years. During her tenure in Congress she has constantly fought for the Internet and technology sectors on many issues including Net Neutrality, cell phone unlocking, and Internet sales tax, among so many others.

From Left-Right, eBay’s Aaron Johnson, Molly Titley, Marie Huber and Sharon McBride

Last week eBay General Counsel Marie Huber won the National Association of Women Lawyers’ 2016 Leadership Award.  As one of the very few Asian-American women serving as a General Counsel for a Fortune 500 company, Marie shared with the group that she is “passionate about advocating for women in our profession, particularly in technology law.” 

Yesterday Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (D/MI) along with Oak Park Michigan Mayor Marian McClellan, City Manager Erik Tungate, Community and Economic Development Director Kimberly Marrone and Oak Park Schools Superintendent Dr. Daveda Colbert attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by eBay seller and Govt. Relations Ambassador Marty Babayov.

(Front Row) Cindy Sorley, Spencer Viernes, Katie Stevens, Emily Shuttleworth, Spencer Jones; (Back Row) Mitch Lamb, Daron Fowlks, Mike Greer

Article updated February 24, 2016

Today, President Obama signed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 into law. The long-awaited customs reauthorization law increases the U.S. de minimis threshold, urges other countries to do the same, and modernizes customs rules to allow U.S. sellers to accept retail returns duty-free.

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. While this customs bill removes frictions for global ecommerce sales, it also triggered developments on the Internet sales tax front.

eBay strongly encourages the Senate to take up and pass the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (H.R. 644), which would support the ability of small Internet-enabled retailers to successfully export across the globe. According to the new Small Online Business Growth Report, 97% of eBay-enabled U.S. small businesses export and 59% of those reach 10 or more different foreign markets. This statistic is notable because less than 4% of traditional businesses export, regardless of their size.