Tariffs

[TimFox]

That’s true, of course, for all economic data.
In recent years, the relevant raw data into the BLS surveys arrive later than before.

In J K Galbraith’s history of the Great Depression, he bemoaned the poor state of official statistics in the 1920s and before.  He had to rely on less direct metrics of the economy, such as tax receipts and carloadings, to infer the changes in the economy leading up to the Depression:  he insists that the famous stock market crash of 1929 was a symptom, rather than the cause, of the economic catastrophe.

[vk6zgo]

My first, and primary point was the loss of de minimis that impacts me a lot.
Speaking of which.....
What are you seeing in your sales to the US? I assume this has had some impact to your business.
Is it easier to sell into Canada?  I travel there pretty often and might order some gear delivered to a friend there.

No big impact on my store sales yet, apart from Sendle have stopped sending there, but customers are still using the DHL Express option. But I have yet the hear from any customer who has actually paid the 10% tariff that has been put on Australia.
I should actually do a detailed check of my DHL invoices to see if I'm being charged for it...

Is there a time limit for any charges to be imposed?

The Tariff on Australia went into effect several weeks ago now. Sendle stopped sending to the US completely, and Australia Post also stopped US shipment for like 5 days or something but have resumed again.
I just checked my latest DHL invoice and I'm definitely not being charged the tariff. But still haven't heard from any customer that there has been delays or demands for payment. They are all automatically marked as goods at the full vaue, not gifts.

I don't expect any problems either way, either it arrives no issue or DHL sends me notice of the duties required.
I'll let ya know.

@EEVBLOG

DHL sent me an email telling me there's duties due on my shipment. It was a single button to click, see the charges, and simple to pay either by credit card or paypal. Attached is an image of the invoice for the duties.

IMPORT EXPORT DUTIES     $17.39
REGULATORY CHARGES.       $1.31
DUTY TAX PROCESSING.     $17.00
Total charges.      $35.70

The IMPORT EXPORT DUTIES aligns with the 10% tariff for goods imported from AUS to US.
GST into Australia is 10% so similar charges would be levied going the other way I believe.

The big difference is the processing fees and this may see some competition over time and come down. That's pure speculation. It could just as easily go up.
Since there are no current legal challenges to setting the de minimis value to $0.00 I do not see this charge changing any time soon.

While the extra tax is painful to some extent, the process isn't painful at all with DHL
From shipping to arrival is 4 days per what I'm seeing in tracking.
C

GST is not solely a tax on imports. Years back, like the USA, Australia had individual State taxes which were levied at the pre-retail stage.
A broad based tax upon both goods & services was seen as a good thing to replace these & other taxes.
Virtually everything is subject to GST, as it cares not whether a product is made in Australia or elsewhere.

With the rise of the Internet a "sort of loophole" occurred, where individuals could import things privately, & if the goods were less than a certain value, no GST was payable.

Predictably, the large importers screamed that they were facing unfair competition & the loophole was made very much smaller, with, usually, the large online overseas sellers collecting the GST for the Oz govt.

GST is in no way a tariff.

[Cyclotron]

My first, and primary point was the loss of de minimis that impacts me a lot.
Speaking of which.....
What are you seeing in your sales to the US? I assume this has had some impact to your business.
Is it easier to sell into Canada?  I travel there pretty often and might order some gear delivered to a friend there.

No big impact on my store sales yet, apart from Sendle have stopped sending there, but customers are still using the DHL Express option. But I have yet the hear from any customer who has actually paid the 10% tariff that has been put on Australia.
I should actually do a detailed check of my DHL invoices to see if I'm being charged for it...

Is there a time limit for any charges to be imposed?

The Tariff on Australia went into effect several weeks ago now. Sendle stopped sending to the US completely, and Australia Post also stopped US shipment for like 5 days or something but have resumed again.
I just checked my latest DHL invoice and I'm definitely not being charged the tariff. But still haven't heard from any customer that there has been delays or demands for payment. They are all automatically marked as goods at the full vaue, not gifts.

I don't expect any problems either way, either it arrives no issue or DHL sends me notice of the duties required.
I'll let ya know.

@EEVBLOG

DHL sent me an email telling me there's duties due on my shipment. It was a single button to click, see the charges, and simple to pay either by credit card or paypal. Attached is an image of the invoice for the duties.

IMPORT EXPORT DUTIES     $17.39
REGULATORY CHARGES.       $1.31
DUTY TAX PROCESSING.     $17.00
Total charges.      $35.70

The IMPORT EXPORT DUTIES aligns with the 10% tariff for goods imported from AUS to US.
GST into Australia is 10% so similar charges would be levied going the other way I believe.

The big difference is the processing fees and this may see some competition over time and come down. That's pure speculation. It could just as easily go up.
Since there are no current legal challenges to setting the de minimis value to $0.00 I do not see this charge changing any time soon.

While the extra tax is painful to some extent, the process isn't painful at all with DHL
From shipping to arrival is 4 days per what I'm seeing in tracking.
C

GST is not solely a tax on imports. Years back, like the USA, Australia had individual State taxes which were levied at the pre-retail stage.
A broad based tax upon both goods & services was seen as a good thing to replace these & other taxes.
Virtually everything is subject to GST, as it cares not whether a product is made in Australia or elsewhere.

With the rise of the Internet a "sort of loophole" occurred, where individuals could import things privately, & if the goods were less than a certain value, no GST was payable.

Predictably, the large importers screamed that they were facing unfair competition & the loophole was made very much smaller, with, usually, the large online overseas sellers collecting the GST for the Oz govt.

GST is in no way a tariff.

It wasn't my intention to infer GST is a tariff. They are both taxes and I was just saying that given the numbers the results are similar.

In US states and localities with sales taxes, each person would be expected, like in this case, to report their purchases that taxes were not collected on and pay them. In my state, there's a place to itemize all of your purchases commercial and private and it provides the math to calculate your tax so you can submit it. I'm sure everyone reports their purchases and pays their taxes.   

Prior to reducing de minimis to $0.00 a scofflaw could import this same purchase and in theory pay no tax at all as long as they weren't caught. At least US tax. The same person now would minimally pay the import duties.

I don't recall VAT/GST ever being topical in the US.  It is my preference to pay no taxes. The zeroing out of the de minimis irks me as I reaped the benefits of it.

I believe it was big companies in the US like Walmart that were irritated by TEMU and the like and pushed for its elimination. I've seen no evidence that US citizens were interested in it's effective elimination.

[themadhippy]

I don't recall VAT/GST ever being topical in the US

Its a big gripe to your president,he recons  its  an unfair tax that give other country's  a trade advantage

[Cyclotron]

I don't recall VAT/GST ever being topical in the US

Its a big gripe to your president,he recons  its  an unfair tax that give other country's  a trade advantage

The current president as all of them, have a lot of gripes. You're correct that the current one uses VAT/GST tax in talks of trade.

Sorry, I should clarify. I was trying to say I'm not aware of VAT/GST being proposed for taxation of sales in the US.
Per my recollection, the federal government didn't directly tax citizens until 1862 (pay for cost of war) and then the income tax was done in 1913.

Now that I think about it, I suppose the FairTax proposal would be somewhat similar though it goes much further than just implementing nationwide sales tax.

I have heard it argued that the FairTax system would eliminate a lot of nebulousness in how much actual tax is paid.

[vk6zgo]

I don't recall VAT/GST ever being topical in the US

Its a big gripe to your president,he recons  its  an unfair tax that give other country's  a trade advantage

The current president as all of them, have a lot of gripes. You're correct that the current one uses VAT/GST tax in talks of trade.

Sorry, I should clarify. I was trying to say I'm not aware of VAT/GST being proposed for taxation of sales in the US.
Per my recollection, until 1862 and then the income tax was done in 1913.

Now that I think about it, I suppose the FairTax proposal would be somewhat similar though it goes much further than just implementing nationwide sales tax.

I have heard it argued that the FairTax system would eliminate a lot of nebulousness in how much actual tax is paid.

In Australia the GST is precalculated on things you buy retail. Even with the old State taxes, the taxes were done pre-retail, so retail shoppers never had to work out the "real price". What was marked was what you paid.

Having said that, there was a sneaky trick used by mainly car, furniture, TV & white goods retailers in the pre-decimal currency days, of pricing things in "Guineas", which were an obsolete currency in the UK since 1816,
and never were an official unit in Australia.

One "Guinea" = 21 shillings, as compared to 20 shillings for a "Pound".
It was a real scam, as suckers would read an ad saying "200 Gns" to be "200 Pounds", ending up paying an additional 5 Pounds.
It doesn't sound like much, but in the 1950s & early '60s, it was a serious amount of money.
When we went to Decimal currency, there was no place for the "Guinea", so the scam died

[themadhippy]

there was no place for the "Guinea"

Apart from buying a race horse

[tggzzz]

there was no place for the "Guinea"

Apart from buying a race horse

And, although my memory may be faulty, buying lawyers and (private) medical specialists.

More to the point, I can't remember when they gave up using that 5% trick. Decimalisation is irrelevant in this context, since 1 guinea is also £1.05.

[TimFox]

I have a vague recollection of fancy art auctions in England conducted in guineas in the mid-20th century.

[vk6zgo]

there was no place for the "Guinea"

Apart from buying a race horse

And, although my memory may be faulty, buying lawyers and (private) medical specialists.

More to the point, I can't remember when they gave up using that 5% trick. Decimalisation is irrelevant in this context, since 1 guinea is also £1.05.

It was relevant in Oz, because we took the easy way out & made the "Ten Bob" the new Dollar.
Everything expensive being now effectively in multiples of 10/- made the Guinea ineffective as a scam.
Of course there was a new scam of things being priced at, say, $10.99 & people reading it as  $10.00.

[Cyclotron]

My first, and primary point was the loss of de minimis that impacts me a lot.
Speaking of which.....
What are you seeing in your sales to the US? I assume this has had some impact to your business.
Is it easier to sell into Canada?  I travel there pretty often and might order some gear delivered to a friend there.

No big impact on my store sales yet, apart from Sendle have stopped sending there, but customers are still using the DHL Express option. But I have yet the hear from any customer who has actually paid the 10% tariff that has been put on Australia.
I should actually do a detailed check of my DHL invoices to see if I'm being charged for it...

Is there a time limit for any charges to be imposed?

The Tariff on Australia went into effect several weeks ago now. Sendle stopped sending to the US completely, and Australia Post also stopped US shipment for like 5 days or something but have resumed again.
I just checked my latest DHL invoice and I'm definitely not being charged the tariff. But still haven't heard from any customer that there has been delays or demands for payment. They are all automatically marked as goods at the full vaue, not gifts.

I don't expect any problems either way, either it arrives no issue or DHL sends me notice of the duties required.
I'll let ya know.

@EEVBLOG

DHL sent me an email telling me there's duties due on my shipment. It was a single button to click, see the charges, and simple to pay either by credit card or paypal. Attached is an image of the invoice for the duties.

IMPORT EXPORT DUTIES     $17.39
REGULATORY CHARGES.       $1.31
DUTY TAX PROCESSING.     $17.00
Total charges.      $35.70

The IMPORT EXPORT DUTIES aligns with the 10% tariff for goods imported from AUS to US.
GST into Australia is 10% so similar charges would be levied going the other way I believe.

The big difference is the processing fees and this may see some competition over time and come down. That's pure speculation. It could just as easily go up.
Since there are no current legal challenges to setting the de minimis value to $0.00 I do not see this charge changing any time soon.

While the extra tax is painful to some extent, the process isn't painful at all with DHL
From shipping to arrival is 4 days per what I'm seeing in tracking.
C

And just as DHL stated, my new 121GW arrived today. Sweet!

[ifonlyeverything]

Has anyone ordered from LCSC recently, with the package delivered to a residential address? Is this "tariff policy FAQ" accurate (albeit from JLC and not LCSC)? If I place a small order of e.g. $50 goods plus shipping and have it delivered to a residential address with the cheapest Global Direct Standard Line shipping, I should not expect to pay any additional tariffs or have any tariffs charged to me by whoever delivers the package? https://jlcpcb.com/help/article/us-tariff-policy-faq

[TimFox]

That post was updated on August 12.
On August 30, the de minimis exception for shipments to the US under $800 was removed.

[Cyclotron]

You should expect to pay import duties regardless of price or shipping address in the US.

Maybe someone here has experience and can relay that experience since de minimis was set to $0.00.  If you don't want surprises, inquire with JLCPCB via their contact page: https://jlcpcb.com/help/article/contact-jlcpcb

If you find out anything, let us know. I paid 10% plus fees for importing a meter from Australia.
I suspect you'll do the same but JLCPCB may collect those up front. Mine were billed to me via contact from DHL.

[tggzzz]

Point of information...

Sending a PCB+EPROMs (£32.50+postage) from the UK "Please note that if you live in the USA, that customs fees have been introduced since January 20th 2025.    For the board and EPROM the charges and handling fees are GBP9.50."
FFI, see https://groups.io/g/Solartron_Schlumberger_Equipment/message/260 and preceding messages
EDIT: just noticed https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/solartron-7081-earthy-processor-board-reverse-engineering/msg6047769/#msg6047769

Draw your own conclusions.

[Cyclotron]

I recently discovered this site called the "Trump 2.0 tariff tracker" and find it useful to see where deals have been made and what is still going on as far as tariffs.

Throughout this past half year there was a lot of economic doom and gloom predicted and that shade of ugly may still arise.
The latest on the economy is that it is showing good strength and the job market's latest numbers are looking to be ok too. As is said in this article, someone is paying. I fully expect the US consumer will have that burden in the next 12-18 months.

The news cycle is currently tied up mostly with violent acts and pondering/debating the root cause of the hate. As such tariffs don't seem to be front page news or even back page at the moment.

The US is entering the great consumerism marvel that is Black Friday time so I'm sure the economy and other related things will resurface to front page if the killing can subside for a few weeks.

Anyone have good examples of international consumerism and your trials/tribulations of applicable duties?

[KE5FX]

I recently discovered this site called the "Trump 2.0 tariff tracker" and find it useful to see where deals have been made and what is still going on as far as tariffs.

Throughout this past half year there was a lot of economic doom and gloom predicted and that shade of ugly may still arise.
The latest on the economy is that it is showing good strength and the job market's latest numbers are looking to be ok too. As is said in this article, someone is paying. I fully expect the US consumer will have that burden in the next 12-18 months.

Not to get political, but to state an objective fact: the personnel responsible for compiling this data and generating the reports have been purged in favor of Trump loyalists.  Don't be too eager to trust rosy figures that are undoubtedly coming from that office.

The news cycle is currently tied up mostly with violent acts and pondering/debating the root cause of the hate. As such tariffs don't seem to be front page news or even back page at the moment.

Many things have disappeared from the news cycle recently along with the tariffs, not the least of which is the status of the Epstein files, particularly those touching on Trump's role. 

It would be excessively political to suggest that this is anything other than a coincidence, so we won't go there (or at least I won't.)

[free_electron]

Has anyone ordered from LCSC recently, with the package delivered to a residential address? Is this "tariff policy FAQ" accurate (albeit from JLC and not LCSC)? If I place a small order of e.g. $50 goods plus shipping and have it delivered to a residential address with the cheapest Global Direct Standard Line shipping, I should not expect to pay any additional tariffs or have any tariffs charged to me by whoever delivers the package? https://jlcpcb.com/help/article/us-tariff-policy-faq

i'll be able to tell you tomorrow or friday. i have three shipments form JLCPCB on the way. they just cleared customs and one is out for delivery tomorrow.

I do have a shipment from Buydisplay for 97$ that required me to pay an extra 33$ to get released by customs. so that lines with the 34% tariff ... Even then the displays are still way cheaper than buying from digikey or mouser ( and they don't have the ones i want , only comparable but much thicker and taking up more space for the backlight )

I also have an order from TME (poland) on the way. TME claims the sales price is final including the tariff , so there should be no additional payment there. Shipment is on US soils, slated for delivery monday. we will see...

[Cyclotron]

Has anyone ordered from LCSC recently, with the package delivered to a residential address? Is this "tariff policy FAQ" accurate (albeit from JLC and not LCSC)? If I place a small order of e.g. $50 goods plus shipping and have it delivered to a residential address with the cheapest Global Direct Standard Line shipping, I should not expect to pay any additional tariffs or have any tariffs charged to me by whoever delivers the package? https://jlcpcb.com/help/article/us-tariff-policy-faq

i'll be able to tell you tomorrow or friday. i have three shipments form JLCPCB on the way. they just cleared customs and one is out for delivery tomorrow.

I do have a shipment from Buydisplay for 97$ that required me to pay an extra 33$ to get released by customs. so that lines with the 34% tariff ... Even then the displays are still way cheaper than buying from digikey or mouser ( and they don't have the ones i want , only comparable but much thicker and taking up more space for the backlight )

I also have an order from TME (poland) on the way. TME claims the sales price is final including the tariff , so there should be no additional payment there. Shipment is on US soils, slated for delivery monday. we will see...

Did you pay VAT on that TME order?  I was going to order something a while back and didn't get clarity on that.
Thanks

[tautech]

Has anyone ordered from LCSC recently, with the package delivered to a residential address? Is this "tariff policy FAQ" accurate (albeit from JLC and not LCSC)? If I place a small order of e.g. $50 goods plus shipping and have it delivered to a residential address with the cheapest Global Direct Standard Line shipping, I should not expect to pay any additional tariffs or have any tariffs charged to me by whoever delivers the package? https://jlcpcb.com/help/article/us-tariff-policy-faq

i'll be able to tell you tomorrow or friday. i have three shipments form JLCPCB on the way. they just cleared customs and one is out for delivery tomorrow.

I do have a shipment from Buydisplay for 97$ that required me to pay an extra 33$ to get released by customs. so that lines with the 34% tariff ... Even then the displays are still way cheaper than buying from digikey or mouser ( and they don't have the ones i want , only comparable but much thicker and taking up more space for the backlight )

I also have an order from TME (poland) on the way. TME claims the sales price is final including the tariff , so there should be no additional payment there. Shipment is on US soils, slated for delivery monday. we will see...

Did you pay VAT on that TME order?  I was going to order something a while back and didn't get clarity on that.
Thanks

Overseas orders do not normally attract local VAT/GST charges because they are not being used/consumed locally.
This info should be uniform for all EU countries.

[free_electron]

Did you pay VAT on that TME order?  I was going to order something a while back and didn't get clarity on that.
Thanks

Don't know. I used the US site , not the international one. When using hte international site there is an additional tax. When using the US site the price displayed is final including tariff.

The selection is smaller than the international site, but they have what i needed. (OKW knobs and dials. Here in the US all you can find are butt-ugly chickenhead knobs in 1934-style bakelite. Nobody has anything nice or modern), Piher potentiometers . Even some US made parts are cheaper there than at digikey or mouser ( like LM675 in TO220-5 with staggered leads. )

https://www.tme.com/us/en-us/katalog/

[free_electron]

Two of the jlcpcb shipments arrived without any extra tax or paperwork. Make sure to select the shipping options that includes duties to be paid by shipper.

[Cyclotron]

Has anyone ordered from LCSC recently, with the package delivered to a residential address? Is this "tariff policy FAQ" accurate (albeit from JLC and not LCSC)? If I place a small order of e.g. $50 goods plus shipping and have it delivered to a residential address with the cheapest Global Direct Standard Line shipping, I should not expect to pay any additional tariffs or have any tariffs charged to me by whoever delivers the package? https://jlcpcb.com/help/article/us-tariff-policy-faq

i'll be able to tell you tomorrow or friday. i have three shipments form JLCPCB on the way. they just cleared customs and one is out for delivery tomorrow.

I do have a shipment from Buydisplay for 97$ that required me to pay an extra 33$ to get released by customs. so that lines with the 34% tariff ... Even then the displays are still way cheaper than buying from digikey or mouser ( and they don't have the ones i want , only comparable but much thicker and taking up more space for the backlight )

I also have an order from TME (poland) on the way. TME claims the sales price is final including the tariff , so there should be no additional payment there. Shipment is on US soils, slated for delivery monday. we will see...

Did you pay VAT on that TME order?  I was going to order something a while back and didn't get clarity on that.
Thanks

Overseas orders do not normally attract local VAT/GST charges because they are not being used/consumed locally.
This info should be uniform for all EU countries.

I agree but I've also had to pay VAT and was told I could submit a form to the UK government for a refund.
No thank you. So now I'm pretty careful about it and in the case of TME, I didn't know about their other site. I'm actually looking for knobs for a project right now and will go look at thief stuff.

[Cyclotron]

Two of the jlcpcb shipments arrived without any extra tax or paperwork. Make sure to select the shipping options that includes duties to be paid by shipper.

Thank you for the update. My current preferred board maker is JLCPCB.
I have some board spins that I'm working on and this is good to know.

Also thanks for both the note about TME US and the knobs. You're right about knob selection. I'm near giving up and going to make my own.

[tggzzz]

Just received this email from fleabay...

Your Global Shipping Programme listings are active for US buyers again

We know the new US import regulations have been challenging. So we’re pleased to share that we’ve added Country of Origin details to some of your listings. This means we’ve been able to reactivate them for the Global Shipping Programme, so those listings are now available to US buyers again.

What this means for you:

• Country of Origin is required for listings to be available to US buyers through the Global Shipping Programme. This information is used to calculate duties, taxes, and import fees.
• Where reliable information is available, we’ve already added Country of Origin details using trusted data sources.
• You know your items best, so please add the Country of Origin wherever you can. Any information you provide will override eBay's selection.

Coverage will expand over time, and in the coming months, you’ll have more ways to view and manage Country of Origin information selected by eBay for your items.

I wonder how accurate fleabay's guess as to the country of origin is, and whether that information (and lack thereof) will be challenged by the US authorities.

For example, some Tek scopes were produced in the USA and some elsewhere; I doubt fleabay distinguishes! Or are the weights of steel and aluminium important?