This thread is not intended to become a discussion on the tariffs themselves–just a centralized place to share facts that will help inform purchasing decisions.
From my internet-browsing thus far I’ve gathered that:
The 10% tariff is already being collected starting the past Saturday (April 5)
Additional tariffs on Chinese-made goods (e.g., flashlights) will be collected starting April 9
Tariffs are collected upon import
Therefore, it appears that
If your order has not arrived by now, it will be held by customs until the tariffs are cleared.
Items that require clarifications are:
For orders that have already been shipped pending import customs, who will be contacted to pay the tariffs, and how does the process work? Has someone here already experienced this?
I’ve read that at some point, all future orders from China will come with a +$50 tariff regardless of amount, but I haven’t gathered the full details, such as when this becomes effective. Anyone has info on this?
It seems reasonable to then conclude that purchasing should be halted immediately until the situation is rectified or clarified.
If any of the above–the info I’ve summarized or the conclusions I drew–seems wrong, please post a correction! Also any clarifications on the unresolved items would be much-appreciated by many.
It depends on “how” it is being shipped. If items are entering the US through the international postal network from China or Hong Kong nothing changes until May 2nd. As of May 2nd the carrier (carrying international mail) will have to declare a value and pay customs and border patrol before the packages get handed off to the USPS. They may end up keeping a running tally and only paying once a month. How that will work on the senders end I’m not sure. Especially if multiple companies and or international mail carriers are involved along the way. I suspect each package will have a tracking number and a dollar value assigned to it. I suspect they will end up requiring a receipt listing items and value in the package. They will likely end up checking a certain number of packages just to make sure nobody is trying to declare lower than actual values.
Everything you said above may indeed already be taking place let’s say if a storefront orders a big box of flashlights or any item and it is being delivered by UPS or other shipping companies. So some of this is still unknown but there is some bad information out there. You’re not going to be getting letters requiring a payment.
I vaguely remember the consignee or the brokerage agent/importer handles the tariff, but that is usually calculated beforehand. I gotta dig out my purple book on logistics.
With the 10% GST we pay in Australia, AliExpress (and other large online overseas companies) charge that 10% when I pay on their website. Then they pay the Australian Government.
I do remember this being how it works when I was ordering on AliExpress while in the UK. It is unclear to me if all vendors (AliExpress, Convoy, Emisar, etc.) can implement this given the short notice.
Some smaller online businesses don’t charge it, I guess the Aus government would need to catch up with them? AliExpress definitely does, the 10% is added on at the checkout automatically. I can’t remember if Emisar does, the other doesn’t- but lets keep that quiet.
If I were the seller, I would play it dumb (or just smart). As of today there still are Chinese sellers that write in their terms and conditions that all import tariffs and taxes are payable by the buyer. For them, nothing changes. The buyer just has to pay more (plus a handling fee) to customs. Not sure what companies like Ali will do. At the moment they have “merged” taxes in their selling price. I also do not know what customs policies are. Are they applying all rules to the full extent, no matter what item of which seller? Or do they (silently) use a certain limit?
Tariff on Chinese goods as previously announced is 54% Most convenient for us would be if we pay the tariff at checkout. Click the box to add 54%.
Less convenient would be if customs or the shipping company collects the tariff from the recipient. In that case we might have to take a trip our local customs office or post office, wait in a giant line, and then pay the tariff.
Given the high cost and uncertainty surrounding the tariffs it may be best for US customers to hold off on all flashlight purchases from overseas for the foreseeable future.
The way i checked today, to see if there is a tariff, is to put an order in my cart for a D3aa.
The last D3aa i paid for in February, cost $41.81. No tariff listed on the bill. Shipping was free.
Today the same D3aa costs 47.80, an increase of 14%. Still No tariff listed on the bill. Shipping still free.
Conclusion, my opinions:
Any tariff is built into the price at time of paying for the order. Hank pays the shipping company the extra 14%. Then the shipping company pays that fee to USA customs, when the package arrives at port of entry.
Then normal USA delivery arrives in my mailbox. No additional rigamarole, no going anywhere to pay any separate tariff.
The tariff is built into the price at time of ordering. Done.
It’s not that easy. The shop needs a way to interface with US customs, because on one hand trump changes the tariffs more often than his underwear, and on the other hand pre-paid fees are a quite complex thing that needs the recipient agency to know they have legally been paid.
Took the Chinese vendors a couple months to implement IOSS properly for EU, and IOSS was introduced once and never changed… Might be faster now for US since they already have the setup in place for IOSS.
Still, they need an API on the US customs side which their shop engines can interface with, and this needs implementing from both US and shop owner.
Hi everyone, please be very careful to completely avoid all subjective and political comments about this topic, and limit the discussion to strictlyfunctional aspects of the tariff situation as it relates to receiving orders. Thanks to @QReciprocity42 for also mentioning this requirement:
By the way, I received an order from Canada (via eBay.com) today.
I don’t know when the tariffs will kick in for small purchases to the U.S., but I didn’t have an extra charge.
Here is what has publicly been announced by the US government:
Reciprocal tariffs go into effect April 9, 2025 on all shipments larger than $800
These are the tariffs that were announced last week on approximately 80 countries. They will go into effect this Wednesday, April 9, 2025 on all orders valued $800 or more.
Exemption to tariffs for orders less than $800 expires May 2, 2025:
The administration previously announced that the “de minimis” exemption expires on May 2, 2025. This is the exemption that applied to small orders with a value less than $800. From then on, all shipments regardless of size will be subject to tariffs.
Procedures or mechanisms have not yet been announced as to how the tariff should be paid for small shipments after this point.
Regarding China:
China:
The US had a previously announced a 20% tariff rate for China.
Last week, the US announced an additional additional 34% reciprocal tariff against China for a total of 54%.
After China announced its own 34% retaliatory tariff, the US administration today threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff starting April 9 if China did not back down by April 8.
This means that if all announced and threatened US tariffs go into effect:
Starting Wednesday, April 9, the tariff on imports from China would be 104%. However, this would not apply to flashlight orders with a value of less than $800 until May 2.
Example: A shipment of a flashlight from China with a purchase price of $50 that attempts to pass through US customs after May 2 would owe $52 in tariffs to be paid to the US government via to-be-determined mechanism. Expect to pay $102 to receive your light.
Regarding your recent shipment from Canada:
Canada was exempt from last week’s reciprocal tariffs.
The “de minimis” exemption is still active and your light probably cost less than $800, so no tariff was due.
My recommendation based on currently announced tariffs:
If you want to buy any light or parts from overseas, I recommend buying immediately before the de minimis exemption disappears. Aim to have your shipment clear customs before May 2.
If you want to buy from any seller who receives shipments from overseas in bulk and keeps them in US warehouses, be aware that their tariffs might be in effect as early as April 9. This might affect some larger websites like Amazon. I advise making such purchases immediately as their prices might rise quickly.
If you wait closer to May 2, I recommend holding off any small overseas purchases from China until any flaws in the procedures to pay the tariffs on small shipments are worked out. Once people confirm that they are able to pay the tariffs and receive their shipments then it should be safe to resume purchases, albeit at a higher price due to the tariffs.
