Struggling with U.S. Trade Barriers? Here’s How to Trade to America and Win Market Share
New United States Government customs regulations come into effect on the 29th August 2025. The $800 de minimis is gone — so customs are due on ALL goods imported into the USA. However IRP offers a simple solution to gain market share.
All eCommerce Goods to USA are now subject to Tariffs
All Goods to USA are Now Subject to Tariffs
These changes will affect UK businesses that export to the USA — regardless of the product they sell or the Postage method they use. The $800 de minimis threshold for duty-free imports is gone
- Customs duties are based on the item’s value and the country of manufacture
- UK eCommerce Merchants must provide complete electronic product data for:
- Country of origin
- Product value
- HS codes
These changes increase the complexity of shipping to the U.S, particularly for businesses that rely on low-value shipments or operate across multiple carriers.
UK and Northern Ireland have a LOW RATE of 10% and gain a COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.
Merchants Must Add Codes Into their IRP Products
US Tariffs present an opportunity, because if you are ready — you can seize market share.
To get your data ready, you must add additional product information to your IRP System for each product:
- Harmonisation Code
- Country of Origin
This will ensure when generating labels in IRP that the correct customs information can be generated. With IRP's Intersoft module - certain couriers allow for Paperless trade to cut down on admin time.
Deliver Duty Paid or Deliver Duty Unpaid (DDP or DDU)
Royal Mail is requiring that all duties are paid on shipments PRIOR to leaving the UK and they are proposing that all shipments are sent DDP (Deliver Duty Paid). However, couriers like DHL and UPS ALLOW international shipments to be DDU (Deliver Duty Unpaid) or DDP — this is due to these couriers having their own end to end service.
IRP Market Analysts Recommend "Deliver Duty Paid" (DDP)
Shipping DDU - Delivery Duties Unpaid
If shipping DDU it will be important to have transparent messaging on your website during their customer journey so that American customers are aware that they will have duties and taxes to pay before the parcel is delivered to their house.
Shipping DDP - Delivery Duties Paid
If wanting to ship DDP you may need to increase your prices to account for an average Duties and Taxes on each order. Merchants have increased their prices to the USA by 10+% and have not seen an impact on their sales.
How to increase Prices for DDP
Increasing prices will cover your Duty costs. Pricing can be adjusted by using a negative product discount or you can use in the Product Discounts page of Advanced Pricing to handle specific USD Pricing. You will be invoiced by your courier every 7 to 10 Days for duties and tariffs due.
With shipping DDP, couriers are charging a FEE between 2% and 5% to handle and process it, consider including this fee in your pricing otherwise it will impact your net profit.
Get your USA Site Messaging Clear and Ready
Be Clear in your USA Messaging
Poor messaging and customers not being aware of the duties and tariffs could result in the customer not paying. It can also lead to the Merchant having to pay to get their product back from the USA or to write off its value. United States Trade should be handled very similarly to how you handle Canada for example - Merchants who ship DDU make it clear that duties and tariffs are due on orders over $20.
A Real World Merchant Example
The impacts will be different for each Merchant. In a real world example - one Merchant with over 50,000 SKUS, had 291 unique Harmonisation Codes and in total 700 Country & Harmonisation Codes. IRP Agencies are offering services to help you build out USD pricing to reduce impact on sales. The benefit of doing it this way is that you will NOT be paying between 0.5% and 3% which some Duties and Tariff calculators are charging.
Preparing your Site Interface for Tariffs:
IRP can handle the complexities of international trade:
- Ensure USP Banner Messaging and Content Pages explain how it works when buying from you.
- Have USA specific Order Confirmation Emails to remind the customer straight away how you are handling Tariffs in the USA and what they can expect.
- While there will be a period of understanding the full impact of tariffs it is important to stick with the USA. Couriers say some Merchants on systems that cannot handle Tariffs are pausing USA sales - this creates a big opportunity to increase market share for Merchants running IRP.
- Using IRP Product Feed Restrictions it may be beneficial to remove products that are made in certain countries from your advertising, for example products made in Canada have a minimum tariff of 35% which in most cases means you won’t be price competitive. If removed from your feed this would help reduce advertising costs.
Manage these things and Merchants on IRP have an advantage. Do NOT turn off the world’s largest market - and do not worry, all Merchants are facing the same challenges
Tariffs Present and Opportunity for Prepared IRP Merchants
Market Diversification
U.S. tariffs are expected to remain a persistent challenge for Merchants, with rates that could fluctuate in the short term. To manage this uncertainty, Merchants should explore market diversification as a strategy to reduce risk, broaden revenue streams, and avoid overdependence on any single market. The IRP is uniquely positioned to support rapid expansion into new regions through tailored country storefronts, localised channel feeds, targeted marketing and region-specific payment options.
IRP Duties Calculator is on the Way
Shopify is charging 0.5% to 1.5%, GlobalE is charging 3% for Duty calculation. An IRP Duties Calculator is being developed in the background to assist in the calculation of Global Tariffs. IRP will try to absorb as much cost as possible in our module next year.
Talk to your IRP Agency Partner for Help with Tariffs
Conclusion
BE PREPARED! Enter your harmonisation codes and countries of origin. Talk to your couriers, choose DDU or DDP. DDP is the option we recommend. Get your site banners and System email ready with correct USA duty messaging. Change your Feeds if you have to to remove items that are uncompetitive - but leave Feeds as is if you can.
If you need help, ask your Agency. USA tariffs actually represent a big opportunity for UK companies - and another benefit to Northern Ireland as a world class location for eCommerce. Irish companies face stlightly higher general tariffs of 15%.
Your competitors are in a much worse position - Take action and take this opportunity!
