The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that in theory, goods compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement were supposed to be exempt from the vast bulk of tariffs unleashed by President Donald Trump starting last year. The Globe's Mariya Postelnyak writes that included tariffs many businesses became exposed to after the scrapping of the de minimis exemption last August, which allowed low-value parcels to enter the U.S. duty-free. In practice, it has made little to no difference for a chunk of small businesses, many of whom now face a Catch-22: If they ship with Canada Post, they lose out on any preferential treatment under the USMCA and pay a 10-per-cent tariff. A private courier such as UPS can process USMCA-compliant goods and ships faster, but the upfront costs are higher and there is still a risk of duties and hefty processing fees if any paperwork is amiss. A national postal service is treated differently under U.S. tariff rules. USMCA is not relevant for postal shipments. If a Canadian company ships using the postal service, it does not matter if the goods are USMCA or not. That means packages sent through Canada Post are not exempt from the global tariffs the U.S. imposed earlier this year.