Australian companies in US–China tariffs limbo accuse Austrade of abandoning small business

Australia Broadcast Center

18 hours ago

It has been a busy and frustrating week in the shipping warehouse at Apéro.
The Brisbane-based maternity label is packaging up its last parcels to the United States after making the call to halt orders to this lucrative market.
"It's tough to make a decision," co-founder Laz Smith says.
Apéro has made this decision in response to US President Donald Trump's sweeping changes to taxes on imported goods into the States.
It's not the only online fashion retailer in this position.
Data given to ABC News shows shipping from Australia to the US is dropping, as business "uncertainty" about Trump's tariffs continues.
Apéro's woes began on "liberation day" in April, when Trump announced global tariffs, with help from a gigantic placard.
Tariffs are a tax on goods as they enter a nation's borders.
Officially, Australia is getting a "baseline" rate of just 10 per cent.
Yet Australian companies like Apéro, which manufacture in China, are actually getting the far higher tariffs being lobbed on the Asian superpower.
China's tariffs have wildly fluctuated since April, with a semi-truce between the two superpowers in May now settling them at just over 40 per cent.
"It's basically a quasi-global trade war," Smith says.
"And we just don't know what the playing field is, and the players can change their mind at any time."
US and China are reportedly bargaining for a firm deal, but deadlines on this keep being delayed. The next is in November.
"What's tricky is they are now negotiating over pretty substantial trade disagreements," Oxford Economics head of global trade, Harry Murphy Cruise, says.
"I really feel for (Australian businesses caught up in this) simply because they don't have any certainty whatsoever.
"They don't know what's going to happen in November. They may not know what's going to happen next week.
Although, they do. Next week, another Trump curveball is coming their way.
Until now, packages worth less than US$800 ($1,200) were exempt from import taxes when they arrived in the US.
But on August 30, this "de minimis" tax exemption, once used by Temu and Shein, is being closed off for all countries, including Australia.
Felicity Dean, who is a trade expert at The University of Queensland, believes this could result in fees of US$80 on Australian orders into the US.
Others have been interpreting the new looming rules more optimistically, as just applying Australia's "baseline" 10 per cent tariff to orders.
Apéro's Smith says it has been struggling to get firm guidance ahead of August 30, including from Australia Post.
"I think they're still struggling to catch up to what's going on," he says.
Australia Post didn't answer specific questions from ABC News.
"Australia Post is investigating paying duties and taxes through an approved third-party platform provider on behalf of our merchants," it wrote on Monday.
ABC News also understands Australia Post is halting "transit" shipping as it deals with this evolving situation.
As retailers like Apéro grapple with uncertainty, data given to ABC News by a tech company that facilitates online orders is showing the real-world impact.
"There's been a 36 per cent drop in volume since April in terms of outbound shipments from Australia to the US," Shippit's chief executive, Rob Hango-Zada, says.
"All the tariff changes, and more specifically the de minimis change, has actually meant that retailers have had to pull back from the US market.
Some Australian retailers in Shippit's network have been relocating their shipping logistics to American shores, Hango-Zada says.
This means importing goods in bulk into the US, which means the products receive tariffs on their lower wholesale value.
"We've had a couple of fashion retailers in particular that have completely pivoted their operations," Hango-Zada says.
Nashie is one apparel brand that is already doing this local distribution model in the US.
Its founder, Tom Wilson, says it has helped insulate them somewhat.
Yet it also means Nashie has to directly pay its own tariff bills.
Its garments are made in China, and Nashie is being impacted by the 40.6 per cent tariff on that nation.
Its last tariff bill this month was six figures.
"I was very salty sitting in the Commonwealth Bank paying that as an international transaction," Wilson says.
Nashie has been raising prices for American shoppers to deal with this whirlwind, but doesn't want to have to keep doing this.
Wilson wants far more support for Australia's fashion industry.
Apero's Smith agrees and is calling on Australia's trade department to do more as the uncertainty drags on.
"We've never heard from AusTrade, and it's quite crazy," he says.
"I think there's a lot of labels and brands that do a lot trade in the US, and we haven't heard a single thing from how to navigate this. It's all on our own backs."
ABC News has repeatedly asked for an interview with Australia's trade minister, Don Farrell.
He declined for this story, citing timing issues.