Reporting and analysis from the rooms where commerce policy gets decided.
Modern Commerce works on the federal policy barriers facing digital and omnichannel small businesses. This is where we publish what we are seeing and learning, including issues of The Modern Commerce Brief, our weekly policy briefing written for the people who build and run small businesses.
On the New Rural VA Podcast
Sarah Wells joins New Rural VA to talk through the compliance burdens and visibility gaps rural small businesses face as they grow, and what federal policy modernization could mean for entrepreneurs outside major metros.
Listen on New Rural VA →The Modern Commerce Brief, and more.
Original reporting, plain-English explainers, and thought leadership from Modern Commerce, newest first. Open any item with the plus sign to read it in full, no signup required. To get the Brief in your inbox each week, subscribe here.
A new delivery fee in DC, and the fight to stop it
Over the past week, Modern Commerce sent letters to all 13 members of the DC Council about a piece of the FY2027 budget that has flown mostly under the radar: a flat 20-cent surcharge on carrier-for-hire trips that end in the District. In plain terms, that reaches the app-based parcel and same-day deliveries small businesses and their customers count on every day.
Here is why it matters, even if you are nowhere near DC:
- The fee is charged based on where a delivery ends, not where the business sits. A seller in Virginia or Maryland would still see their DC customers pay more on every order.
- It is a flat charge, so it falls hardest on the smallest orders and the smallest sellers, the ones least able to absorb it.
- It reaches the everyday deliveries people genuinely rely on, including seniors, caregivers, and parents juggling work and a newborn.
We know small businesses do not have extra cash and are tapped out on raising prices. Stopping new fees at the policy root is exactly where advocacy earns its keep. A final vote is still ahead, and Modern Commerce will stay engaged.
Published in The Modern Commerce Brief. Subscribe to get it weekly →
Taking the small-business tariff story to CNN
This week, Modern Commerce Executive Director Sarah Wells joined CNN to put the small-business side of the tariff story in front of a national audience. The conversation focused on what the IEEPA refund process actually means for small importers: who qualifies, how the queue works, and why getting this capital back matters for companies that have been fronting tariff costs for months.
Most small importers still do not know how the refund process works, and the owners most affected are often the least likely to have a customs broker walking them through it. Bringing that perspective to a national broadcast is part of the job. The refunds are real money, and owners deserve to understand how to claim what they are owed.
Published in The Modern Commerce Brief. Subscribe to get it weekly →
CBP and tariff refunds: how the line actually moves
I sat in a stakeholder meeting at Customs and Border Protection on how the IEEPA tariff refunds are actually being processed. I was there as a small business owner and importer, not in any official capacity, and what I heard is useful enough that I want to pass it on. (I was able to be in the room thanks to an invitation through the National Retail Federation.)
The short version: refunds are moving, and the order they move in is not what most people assume.
- Refund size does not move you up the line. Bigger refunds are not getting priority.
- It is first come, first served by application date. When you filed your CAPE application matters most.
- Within that, your entry status sets priority. Entries that are liquidated, in the grace period, or close to liquidating are processed first.
- Phase 1 is for clean entries only. Anything tangled up in errors or other complications waits for a later phase.
- The outer window is 60 to 90 days from your application date. If your CAPE shows accepted status and you pass 90 days with no refund, that is your cue to contact CBP.
- Applying now means you are behind everyone who filed earlier, with entry status layered on top.
Published in The Modern Commerce Brief. Subscribe to get it weekly →
The NO BOSS Act: a small-business bill worth knowing
A bill worth knowing passed the House 41-0 on April 27, 2026, and it is now in the Senate: the NO BOSS Act (H.R. 6431, the New Opportunities for Business Ownership and Self-Sufficiency Act).
Here is the idea in plain English. Today, if you lose your job and start a business, you generally give up your unemployment benefits the moment you start working for yourself. The NO BOSS Act would let people keep receiving those benefits while they get a new business off the ground, instead of forcing a choice between a paycheck and a fresh start. CBO scored it as essentially budget-neutral, and it cleared the House with unanimous, bipartisan support.
It is exactly the kind of practical fix that helps people become small business owners in the first place. We will keep readers posted as it moves through the Senate.
Published in The Modern Commerce Brief. Subscribe to get it weekly →
AI Empowers Us to Compete on a Level Playing Field With Much Bigger Companies
Read on Connected Commerce Council →Get the news that matters to small businesses, before everyone else does.
The Modern Commerce Brief is a short, plain-language policy briefing for people who build and run small businesses. From the rooms where these decisions get made, sent weekly.
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Moms Mean Business.
Modern Commerce founder Sarah Wells writes Moms Mean Business, a Substack reaching 30,000+ readers. The posts range across policy, entrepreneurship, and the realities of building a modern company, often well beyond small business alone. A few recent pieces below.
Why I Started Something New (and Why I'm Still Right Here)
Read on Substack →AI Gave My Small Business a Finance Department
Read on Substack →Small Business Is the Beating Heart
Read on Substack →Special Edition: The Court Restored the Rules
Read on Substack →Modern Commerce™ is the brand name of the Center for Modern Commerce Policy™, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization based in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Contributions to the Center for Modern Commerce Policy are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.