The Montreal-based luxury fashion retailer plans to open a fulfilment centre in the U.S. to house inventory for American customers. The warehouse will let the company reduce steep duties on products that would otherwise be shipped from Canada. (The New York Times)

Talking point: Changes to the de minimis tariff exemption—which had allowed parcels valued up to US$800 to enter the U.S. duty-free—pushed Ssense into bankruptcy last year, after it had already struggled with the post-pandemic e-commerce lull. While the U.S. once made up 60 per cent of its customers, that share fell to 40 per cent after Washington scrapped the exemption. The company has since emerged from restructuring considerably smaller, and is now leaning on AI to reduce costs and remake parts of its operations. A U.S. warehouse will let Ssense pay duties on lower wholesale prices than if they were shipped from Canada. A US$990 Jacquemus cardigan from France, for instance, could see duties drop from US$97 to roughly US$30. The company plans to keep its headquarters and non-U.S. fulfilment operations in Montreal.

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