The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Feb. 15, edition that President Donald Trump's threat to suspend the "de minimis" exemption -- a rule that allows shipments valued under $800 (U.S.) to enter the country duty free -- is a concern for many e-commerce entrepreneurs in Canada. The Globe's Susan Krashinsky Robertson writes that many businesses depend on the rule, and worry that its removal could drive U.S. shoppers away and make their operations unsustainable. While the de minimis change was put on pause for Canadian imports until early March, the U.S. did remove the exemption for goods coming from China earlier this month. "We are of the opinion the elimination of the $800 (U.S.) de minimis exemption on Chinese goods will go a long way to levelling the playing field against Chinese DTC [direct-to-consumer] brands and suppliers that operate in a disruptive asset-light manner, flooding the market with duty-free merchandise," said Andrew Lutfy, chief executive officer of Montreal-based retailer Groupe Dynamite, which operates more than 100 Garage clothing stores in the U.S. Because the company ships U.S. e-commerce orders from its U.S. stores, the effect of a change would be "negligible" for Dynamite, he added.