Dear Government...

I am absolutely fascinated by American politics. I think this is mainly because everything, every day, seems like a car crash. Everything is chaotic, venal, fueled by anger, greed and antipathy.

It’s the opposite of the world that I want to live in, and perhaps that’s why I find it so interesting.

As of ten days ago, the de minimis rules that offered tax exemptions on almost all imports into the USA below the value of $800, were scrapped. So, now, if a small overseas company sends any goods at all to the USA, there will be taxes at the point of import. This will obviously have an impact on customer behaviour.

America is a nation of shoppers, and this is one of Trump’s attempts to get them to buy USA made goods and not those made in places like the UK.

De minimis is a term that means, essentially, ‘this law doesn’t concern itself with trifles’ and so, until late August, most packages below $800 in value just sailed through US customs, unexamined, uncharged for.

The other way around -for decades- has been different. In the UK, if we purchase something from the USA, we pay UK VAT, and other bits and bobs, on import.

The logic for the Trump Administration’s volte-face on this is two-fold; the de minimis rules allow endless dodgy imports to make it through customs unchallenged and, separately, the exemptions put US manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.

Now, I know that the popular narrative amongst most of us here is that Trump is wrong about everything. But maybe he’s right here.

First, though.

This is unbelievably annoying for small businesses. It's definitely annoying for us.

Our Instagram feed has been alive with small makers and retailers saying that, sadly, they can no longer export their beautiful goods to the USA. And most shipping companies have temporarily stopped carrying goods to the US while they figure out how to handle the additional paperwork on millions (yup, millions) of parcels a day.

We had a rush of orders from the USA (hardly a flood, you understand, because we are a tiny company, but a few) before the deadline and we didn’t manage to send the last of these before the new rules kicked in. We’ll send them of course, but it will take time.

But, well, here we are and nothing that I can do will change Mr Trump’s mind.

And anyway, if we the UK is protectionist on this matter (we are) then why shouldn’t the Americans be? That’s an unpopular question, but a genuine one.

So, second, this.

Wouldn’t it be nice if our government did something robust to support our small retail and hospitality businesses? I’m not necessarily arguing for protectionism, just something simple. Retail and hospitality are two of the UK’s five biggest industries and yet small businesses are being battered.

An astonishing 89,000 people have lost their jobs in hospitality in the UK since October 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics, and the losses mount each week. Small retailers and manufacturers are being battered in the same way. In 2024, 202, 000 retail jobs were lost, most from small businesses.

That is a lot of jobs, David.

Why are these job losses in the small business sector happening? For many reasons, but here are two.

First small business owners are -absurdly, ridiculously- not included in Reeves’ and Starmer’s definition of ‘working people’ and so are being taxed, if indirectly, by rises in employees’ National Insurance and minimum wages.

Now, increasing NI and minimum wages are noble causes. But raising the cost to the small business employer can only result in one thing, a rise in the cost of their goods/services.

Obvs. Duh!

Small business people are generally driven by passion, belief, work ethic and dreams of an interesting life and not by greed. And if they are driven by greed, they are in for a nasty surprise.

So, second, when Reeves tells us that her government’s strategy will put more money ‘into the pockets of working people’ she is right. But she is ignoring the fact that small business employers will need to recoup the extra costs somehow. So, they need to raise costs.

But wait!

People don’t want to pay more for things, so they don’t buy from these small businesses. Instead, they buy from big business because the latter can offer things that are much cheaper. They operate on pretty tiny gross margins -they increase profits, not necessarily revenue- by constantly driving down costs through squeezing everything they can from their suppliers and workforce.

So, big biz wins. Small biz flounders.

Big biz wins. Small biz disappears.

It's a disaster. It’s a shame. It’s counter-productive and ignorant and stupid.

So, why did we launch a small, passion-driven business that believes in its suppliers, in value, honesty, beauty and quality just as this storm raged around us? The answer is simple, because we believe in a better world that values British design and manufacturing, that believes in goods that last forever and a slower, more gentle way of life.

With your help we’ll make it work. And if you don’t want to buy from us then please consider supporting another small business this year.

Rant over. Let me know what you think. Big love!