Kate Muth

Kate Muth is executive director of the International Mailers’ Advisory Group (IMAG), the premier trade association representing the interests of international mailers and shippers. She is widely considered an expert on postal, mailing and shipping issues, having served as vice president of the Association for Postal Commerce from 2005-2008. Prior to that, she was editor of the award-winning trade publication Business Mailers Review for a decade. Kate is a regular speaker and moderator at industry events and conferences. She continues to study and write on postal topics ranging from policy and operations to customs issues. She has authored white papers and contributed to numerous trade publications, including Mail and Express Review (MER) magazine, Mailing Systems Technology, and the Prescott Report. In 2023, she was named to the board of directors of the National Postal Forum.

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Presentation

Trade, taxes and de minimis

Countries are lowering their VAT thresholds on imported goods or instituting goods and services taxes for low-value e-commerce goods coming in from other countries. Many countries are also tightening security requirements, which means shippers and logistics providers need to provide a precise description of goods, HS codes and other advance data. Any shortcomings in data could mean a delay in getting e-commerce goods through customs and into customers’ hands. The session will look at some of these changes around the world and how they affect cross-border shippers, including efforts in the United States to increase data requirements on imports and lower the de minimis threshold.