As many of you know, the suspension of the "De minimis" exemption on imports of items below $800 means that our kits and all the hobby-related products coming from abroad will be subjected to an import fee that starts at $80* per item (that of course on top of the price we pay for the product).
So the whole chain is affected: manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers if you buy from a hobby shop, or the hobbyist if you buy directly from a vendor abroad. A vast number of people is financially damaged by this inane policy and we won't get the kits and hobby products we want, as in their vast majority they come from abroad. Our hobby, per nature not precisely cheap, will now perhaps become impossible to pursue, as many manufacturers are now stalling production and suspending shipping to the US. Some of these manufacturers in Europe (and even South America, like "72Topia") are very small or even one-man cottage industries, and many depend for their income mostly on sales to the US.
Guess what, they love the US! (not).
This policy comes together with bad/confusing/poor information and even worse implementation. Nobody really knows how to deal with this mess. That of course on top of all the other messes caused by this erratic, deranged, and incompetent administration, led by a man with a brain of a 3 year old and carried on by vindictive, racist, unqualified, brown-nosed, obsequent and many times violent pitiful lackeys.
*Refers to the new flat-rate duty applied to international packages shipped to the U.S. via postal services, effective August 29, 2025. This fee replaces the previous "de minimis" exemption for low-value goods and is one of three possible flat fees ($80, $160, or $200.
Agreed! I ordered some small items from Scale Model Store (in Ukraine, I believe. Total value about $80. I placed my order before the tariff change went into effect, but it hasn’t yet arrived and now my shipping status says I’ll have to pay import tariffs when it does. I have a mind to simply refuse the item rather than pay this poorly-disquised ‘tax’.
ReplyDeleteOne package sent to me to the US was immediately bounced back to origin by that very country's Post Office. They just knew it was bound to be rejected by the customer (me). The $80 to $200 "duty fee" on a $40 kit is something I surely won't like to pay. Not to mention the nightmarishly confusing customs declaration.
DeleteNo problems here in Canada, as a matter of fact we’re (I’ve been) getting preferential treatment at a lot of European outlets. And it’s not just South America that loves USA (not)
ReplyDeleteWell, you live in a civilized country. The US used to be one, until Sauron got back into Barad-dûr (known before as the White House).
DeleteAbsolutely…the little people suffer most in these horrible times
ReplyDeleteProblems apply to Canada with those who formerly shipped thru US hubs, now going direct at extra cost…and implicitly small makers are facing barriers to entry because U.S. market gone, and Canadian vendors facing reduced markets by being unable to ship to U.S..everyone loses from the shameless antics of this monstrosity
ReplyDelete