On February 11, 2016, the US Senate passed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, which, among other things, raises the threshold for de minimis – the maximum value of an import that is exempt from customs duties and complicated rules of origin – from $200 to $800. This move should help especially for micro- and small businesses and individuals that use ecommerce to import single shipments and small parcels. It is now time to raise these levels internationa

This article first appeared in: http://www.gereports.com/kati-suominen-how-to-help-entrepreneurs-in-developing-countries-enter-the-ecommerce-era/ By bringing together public- and private-sector support for digital trade, the Global Fund for Ecommerce could help developing country entrepreneurs go global. Ecommerce has emerged as a powerful driver of economic growth, inclusive trade and job-creation worldwide. Yet while research shows ecommerce dramatically increases the odds

As governments around the world look to small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) as engines of growth, trade and job creation, a thorny challenge stands in the way: hundreds of billions of dollars of pent-up demand for trade finance. This financing can be used as export working capital that enables a company to purchase labor and inputs to fulfill a specific export order. Or it can be used as supply chain financing that helps the company get paid faster for its export shipment t