Will the U.S.-China tariff war drive up online shopping prices for Canadians?
By clicking on “Add to cart” it could soon arrive with an additional adhesive shock.
Since the tariff pressures force a little Sellers in China to increase their prices for US marketsSome retail sales experts say that the Canadian online shopping could potentially feel the chain effects on everything, from electronics to socks.
This comes when the president of the United States Donald Trump has increased the functions on Chinese assets to 145 % of this week, increasing the mail in a commercial war that threatens to overturn global supply chains. In response, Beijing on Friday has increased its rates on US imports 125 percent.
Canada may have avoided a new round of rates, but this does not mean that in the end we will not be affected by the Chinese-US commercial war, said Jean-François Ouellet, associated professor in entrepreneurship and innovation at the HEC Montréal company school, specialized in international marketing.
“Canada is often captured in cross fire,” Ouellet said at the CBC News.
This is because many e-commerce orders placed on Canadian sites that Amazon.
“If these goods are made of China and the new rates of the United States on them, the increase in the cost could be transmitted to Canadian buyers, especially if the product crosses the United States before arriving in Canada.”
With the Chinese assets dealing with a 104 % rate from the United States, some companies are trying to adapt their supply chains to avoid higher costs, but others claim not to face other choice than to pass the increase in consumer prices.
Will Amazon prices increase?
He is looking like this in the United States, at least.
China’s largest China cross-border e-commerce association said on Wednesday that many Chinese companies sell products on Amazon are prepare to increase prices for the United States or leave the market due to rates.
This feeling was taken up by Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy, who The CNBC said on Thursday It is likely that its network of millions of third parties-part-part sellers of which they are in China or that they make their products from there to pass the cost to consumers.
On Friday he had already started happening. The Chinese Electronics Company Anker, who is one of Amazon’s largest sellers, has increased prices on a fifth of its products on the US platform.
What about Amazon.ca?
It is less clear how this will influence Canadian consumers on Amazon.Ca, explained Nicholas Li, professor of economics associated with Toronto Metropolitan University.
Theoretically, the domain name is not necessarily correlated to the deposit and distribution, he said there. For example, you can buy products shipped from other countries on Amazon.ca.
“But in practice, most of the goods you would see on Amazon.ca are deposited in Canada and the prices are already inclusive of any rate,” he said.
So, if a customer orders Amazon.ca, it probably does not see price increases from the US-cinesi rates, said Samuel Roscoe, professor of operations and the supply chain at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.
The goods that come from US warehouses or distribution networks, however, could still be affected by chain effects “, added Ouellet, by Hec Montréal.
Other shopping sites could be affected?
Popular online shopping sites such as Temu, Shein and Walmart.ca could be affected by the China-USA rates, they said both there and Ouellet. Last year, for example, Chinese sellers represented 28 % of all the sellers active on the Walmart website, second Pulse of the marketA company that collects data on e-commerce companies.
An increasing number of e-commerce orders, especially by platforms such as Temu, Shein or even the third-party Amazon sellers Dropshped Directly from China to the customer, Ouellet said.
While these shipments often circumvent US rates, if Canada should follow US lead or increase inspections, duties or postal management fees, it could rapidly affect prices or delivery times, he added.
“And if the US policy interrupts global shipping lanes or creates uncertainty in the supply, even direct-taby dropshipping can become more expensive over time.”
Ok, but are the Canadian shopping sites safe?
Many Canadian companies produce articles in China. Arritzia, Lululemon and Canadian tiresFor example, everyone produces some of their products abroad and sell them south of the border, even if some are working to move production outside China.
If these assets are imported through the United States or if the raw materials are influenced by rates, the production costs can increase, said Ouellet, adding that larger companies can have greater flexibility in their supply chains to adapt in the short term.
Lululemon and Aritzia also have distribution centers in Canada, said Roscoe, which allows them to avoid rates.
Are you trying to buy Canadians in response to the commercial war with the United States? Here is the difference between the goods labeled “Made in Canada” and “Canada product”.
Which articles could increase more than the price?
Electronics (such as phones, accessories and small appliances), clothing, footwear and household it is probably the most difficult success, said Ouellet.
“These are categories in which China has long been a dominant supplier and many of these articles travel through the US logistical centers before reaching Canadian consumers,” he said.
In principle, the goods that are imported to the United States for re -export to Canada should not be subject to US rates, said Ouellet, but in reality the logistics of the real world is “disordered” with a lot of space for errors.
“The US customs agents are already overwhelmed and the rules around the rates right now are stunning,” he said.
“Goods destined to re -export to Canada could be incorrectly classified and taxed, or suppliers could decide that it is only safer and easier to build these costs at their prices, which eventually moves away from the Canadian shopper.”
When will we see the prices go up?
Li, of the Toronto Metropolitan University, underlines that there was a lot of stock of inventory and preventive import in anticipation of these rates. So some of the price variations may be delayed due to an approach of “waiting and see,” he said.
This is particularly true for the Canadians, added Li, since the impact here is more indirect.
“But by delay, I mean months, not years.”
Is there a silver coating for Canada everywhere?
Both Ouellet and affirm them that there is a possibility that some prices for Canadian consumers could actually go down, depending on how things are going. For example, if the US rates on Chinese producers make sale in the United States more difficult, this can lead them to reduce their prices in other markets such as Canada, said Li.
And if the US-China trade stops, China will probably try to redirect its exports elsewhere, said Ouellet, which could be for the benefit of Canadian consumers in some categories if the excess offer floods the market.
“So we could see higher prices on some products that pass through the United States,” he said, “but also unexpected affairs on others, in particular by the sellers who sent directly from China to Canadian buyers”.
