Toys and Tariffs (US customers)

[Shane]

Wonder what this means for Aliexpress and the like. I just ordered a BotM Psittacosaurus from there too a few days ago.

Since the tariffs went into effect I've ordered things from Canada and China (including AliExpress). I haven't paid anything extra. I'm not sure who's eating them.

Packages meeting the de minimis requirement (ie. shipments valued under $800) from China and HK are still exempted from tariffs until May 2nd.

[dragon53]

More on Hong Kong shipping ban to US.

LINK: https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/mail-supply-trade/2025/04/15/id/1207059/?ns_mail_uid=241ecb8a-c62a-40ba-96e2-00f4b6204628&ns_mail_job=DM778369_04162025&s=acs&dkt_nbr=01050471uouq

[andrewsaurus rex]

Tariffs are now up to 245% on SOME Chinese goods.  Not sure if toys are included in that as i can't find a reliable specific breakdown of what is included in the new rate.

[Carnoking]

"I'm tired of this, Grandpa!"

[Cpt Red 3eard]

"I'm tired of this, Grandpa!"

"Well that's just too d*mn bad!"

[Carnoking]

"I'm tired of this, Grandpa!"

"Well that's just too d*mn bad!"

          

[SidB]

I'm  waiting to see if any method is peering through this madness. None that I can see so far.

[Shane]

Tariffs are now up to 245% on SOME Chinese goods.  Not sure if toys are included in that as i can't find a reliable specific breakdown of what is included in the new rate.

Something to keep in mind. Even if the 245% applies to toys, it is effectively the same as 100%, or 145%, or any other unrealistic number.

Trade between China and US is effectively frozen right now; no importers can sustain a triple digit tariff, so arbitrarily increasing the number doesn't really do anything since nobody is shipping anything right now anyway.

[andrewsaurus rex]

Tariffs are now up to 245% on SOME Chinese goods.  Not sure if toys are included in that as i can't find a reliable specific breakdown of what is included in the new rate.

Something to keep in mind. Even if the 245% applies to toys, it is effectively the same as 100%, or 145%, or any other unrealistic number.

Trade between China and US is effectively frozen right now; no importers can sustain a triple digit tariff, so arbitrarily increasing the number doesn't really do anything since nobody is shipping anything right now anyway.

Right.  But it is something to keep in mind for anyone that may buy dino toys/figures directly from China or HK, as those will be subject to the tariff rate when the go through US Customs and the deminimux is gone on May 2 for goods from those two places.

[Primeval12]

I waiting to see if any method is peering through this madness. None that I can see so far.

The only solution I see is ordering through ED or MiniZoo where de minimus still applies.

[Primeval12]

Also, another option that may be political but I'll say it anyways because it is practical. Write to your congressperson. Complain, make a big stink. Especilly if they are pro-tariff. But other than ordering internationally and voicing our concerns to lawmakers, there is nothing we can do.

[Shane]

Tariffs are now up to 245% on SOME Chinese goods.  Not sure if toys are included in that as i can't find a reliable specific breakdown of what is included in the new rate.

Something to keep in mind. Even if the 245% applies to toys, it is effectively the same as 100%, or 145%, or any other unrealistic number.

Trade between China and US is effectively frozen right now; no importers can sustain a triple digit tariff, so arbitrarily increasing the number doesn't really do anything since nobody is shipping anything right now anyway.

Right.  But it is something to keep in mind for anyone that may buy dino toys/figures directly from China or HK, as those will be subject to the tariff rate when the go through US Customs and the deminimux is gone on May 2 for goods from those two places.

De minimis tariffs are calculated completely differently than the other tariffs on shipments valued over $800.

When the de minimis exemption expires, it will be 30% of the value of the goods or $25 per item (whichever is higher). On June 1st it increases to $50 per item.

[DinoToyForum]

I'm  waiting to see if any method is peering through this madness. None that I can see so far.

Please, no discussing or speculating on the reasons. Whatever they may be, they are political by definition and it does us no good to discuss it here.

[BlueKrono]

I'm  waiting to see if any method is peering through this madness. None that I can see so far.

Please, no discussing or speculating on the reasons. Whatever they may be, they are political by definition and it does us no good to discuss it here.

2025: Late-stage tertiary syphilis becomes political.

[Faelrin]

So checked my BotM Psittacosaurus order from Aliexpress, and it's expected to arrive between this and next week. We'll see if/when it does. Will update. My BotM green Protoceratops still has yet to leave Australia either (ordered from Minizoo).

[andrewsaurus rex]

Tariffs are now up to 245% on SOME Chinese goods.  Not sure if toys are included in that as i can't find a reliable specific breakdown of what is included in the new rate.

Something to keep in mind. Even if the 245% applies to toys, it is effectively the same as 100%, or 145%, or any other unrealistic number.

Trade between China and US is effectively frozen right now; no importers can sustain a triple digit tariff, so arbitrarily increasing the number doesn't really do anything since nobody is shipping anything right now anyway.

Right.  But it is something to keep in mind for anyone that may buy dino toys/figures directly from China or HK, as those will be subject to the tariff rate when the go through US Customs and the deminimux is gone on May 2 for goods from those two places.

De minimis tariffs are calculated completely differently than the other tariffs on shipments valued over $800.

When the de minimis exemption expires, it will be 30% of the value of the goods or $25 per item (whichever is higher). On June 1st it increases to $50 per item.

That's for lower priced goods ie $20-$30-ish so there is a minimum worthwhile amount charged to justify the extra manpower.  For higher priced items, shipped from HK/China, it will be whatever the current tariff rate is ie currently 145%-245% plus probably a service fee.  And since the HK/China deminimus is going to zero on May 2, ALL goods coming in from HK/China will be subject to the fixed rate or the tariff rate, depending on their value.

[Trenchcoated Rebbachisaur]

In my experience, having a designated politics area/channel is usually a good way to let people air out their grievances without hurting the integrity of a forum at large. But I guess in this specific case that would amount to just a lot of yelling at the unnamed entity who caused this^tm.
Don't want to tell the staff what to do either, of course.

Not sure if we need this thread that badly anymore either, though. International shippers not stationed in China or the States, like Everythingdinosaur and (I believe) Lanatimeshop, will dodge the current tariffs as they currently stand. Hell, friggin ebay and Amazon might, too, I am not sure how those work.
Storefront owners like Happyhentoys and Dans Dinosaurs can set up/use a secondary location to send packages to, and then send them to the states from there (though I guess if a suitable location doesn't already exist its obviously a bit of a gamble to set one up now... :/). Find a lawyer or political scientist or something for advice for which country to go for in that regard, I guess.

[andrewsaurus rex]

Some small good news.  The 245% rate applies only to electric vehicles and syringes from China and are that high in part due to 'stacking' of different tariff rates being charged China.

So, for toys, it looks like it will "only" be 145% tariffs.

[andrewsaurus rex]

In my experience, having a designated politics area/channel is usually a good way to let people air out their grievances without hurting the integrity of a forum at large. But I guess in this specific case that would amount to just a lot of yelling at the unnamed entity who caused this^tm.
Don't want to tell the staff what to do either, of course.

Not sure if we need this thread that badly anymore either, though. International shippers not stationed in China or the States, like Everythingdinosaur and (I believe) Lanatimeshop, will dodge the current tariffs as they currently stand. Hell, friggin ebay and Amazon might, too, I am not sure how those work.
Storefront owners like Happyhentoys and Dans Dinosaurs can set up/use a secondary location to send packages to, and then send them to the states from there (though I guess if a suitable location doesn't already exist its obviously a bit of a gamble to set one up now... :/). Find a lawyer or political scientist or something for advice for which country to go for in that regard, I guess.

Well in my experience as a moderator on a fairly large and busy forum for years, political discussions are disastrous.   No good comes from them and plenty of hard feelings created....it can lead to the exodus of many members too.  There are plenty of places to discuss politics on the internet.  A dinosaur toy forum doesn't need to be one of them, in my view..

[thomasw100]

In my experience, having a designated politics area/channel is usually a good way to let people air out their grievances without hurting the integrity of a forum at large. But I guess in this specific case that would amount to just a lot of yelling at the unnamed entity who caused this^tm.
Don't want to tell the staff what to do either, of course.

Not sure if we need this thread that badly anymore either, though. International shippers not stationed in China or the States, like Everythingdinosaur and (I believe) Lanatimeshop, will dodge the current tariffs as they currently stand. Hell, friggin ebay and Amazon might, too, I am not sure how those work.
Storefront owners like Happyhentoys and Dans Dinosaurs can set up/use a secondary location to send packages to, and then send them to the states from there (though I guess if a suitable location doesn't already exist its obviously a bit of a gamble to set one up now... :/). Find a lawyer or political scientist or something for advice for which country to go for in that regard, I guess.

Well in my experience as a moderator on a fairly large and busy forum for years, political discussions are disastrous.   No good comes from them and plenty of hard feelings created....it can lead to the exodus of many members too.  There are plenty of places to discuss politics on the internet.  A dinosaur toy forum doesn't need to be one of them, in my view..

But tight policing of every word that people say and having an attitude of interpreting what is said in a way that it would be possibly outside of an extremely tight corridor of what is permitted to be said and what not does no good either. It creates stress, frustration and feels like being in an environment which actively promotes self-censoring because everybody is afraid to receive warnings or even bans.

There has to be a fair balance and sometimes people vent their frustration about some general developments that have political causes but strongly impact dinosaur collecting like in this case all the problems created by tariffs and their frequent changes.

Venting this frustration is in my view something completely different than starting to argue with each other about political parties, general policies or politicians in particular.

The real problem is that unlike some decades ago unfortunately many people seem not to be able to discuss about politics without becoming personal opponents or even enemies. This is the root cause of the issue in my opinion.