Chinese Tarrifs – 104%!?!

F

For The Popcorn

Well-Known Member
Most Helpful Member
Well, in a few hours, cheap boards, modules and other stuff from China will probably cost 2.5 × more (104% tarrif + brokerage fees). [Long string of expletives deleted. And a few more for good measure!]

Those who have read about my vending machine saga will know this sucks. I'm just about finished laying out a new control board to get the machines to work as we want. On top of that is stocking machines with goodies for makers.

I apologize to the world for for our king Nero burning down the world while playing the violin....or in this case golf at Mar a Logo.
 
Oh no! 5 boards for $10 will now cost $20.

Actually, JLCPCB is running a special - $2 for 5 boards so you'll pay two more when it arrives.

No tariffs on freight or packaging.
 
Last edited:
Beau Schwabe said:
if the boards are unpopulated there is not a tariff charge
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Where did you hear that? I can't find a breakdown on what has tariffs and what does not. The news show Trump saying "104% on China" I never know what he is saying or when it will change.
 
Beau Schwabe said:
Unless you want to populate the boards yourself .... if the boards are unpopulated there is not a tariff charge
Click to expand...
Nero's own words were "everything from China" and "the deminomus 'loophole' has been eliminated." At the current rate of imports, that means inspection and tarrifs on FOUR MILLION packages A DAY. If packages are shipped by FedEx, UPS and likely DHL, odds are good that they will tack on additional charges.

Little thought is apparently given to these Sharpie-signed orders about what the consequences of implementing them will be.
 
Beau Schwabe said:
I have been ordering boards for years (thousands of boards). I have never paid a tariff on a board that I had to hand populate. I have always paid a tariff on boards that were populated.
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It's not that bare boards are free, it's just that the first $800 in import value is free from China - that is, it is not worth the cost of the paperwork. Now, with 100% duty, and demand to collect duty on the actual value, all the packages will be charged, even for a $2 set of bare boards.

There is a special harmonized tariff code (I84121) for unpopulated PCBs from Taiwan of three layers or less or flexible PCB and then they are free. But boards from anywhere else don't get that code and you'll have to pay.
 
Oops, there was apparently a $25 minimum or 90% tariff set for small packages set to start on May 2nd that wasn't widely reported. However, overnight, Trump increased minimums to $75 starting May 2nd and increasing to $150 on June 1.

 
Beau Schwabe said:
I have been ordering boards for years (thousands of boards).
Click to expand...
Also I have ordered many boards for years.
I pay when the order is over some amount about $800. I don't think populated or unpopulated is important. It is the value in one package.
On the news, a custom supervisor said, in the old days there is a book and a web page. The book is out of date and the web page went dark to save money. They have no direction and no one to call. (firings) They watch the news to know what to do. If Trump said 104% on Fox News that is what they will do. They apparently have no directions as to "everything or some things".
 
Ugh, those tariffs are brutal—just when you’re finalizing your control board too. The vending machine saga continues… Sorry our ‘Nero’ is golfing while the maker economy burns. Solidarity, friend.
 
Something funny is also happening with enclosures. I have always bought Hammond enclosures, which is a Canadian company.
Last week I attempted to order some from Digikey or Mouser, and was greeted with: will no longer be stocked, they will be “factory direct shipping”.
Talking to a Digikey rep, she told me that with the tariffs volatility, they are allowing to the manufacturer to figure it out.

NOTE; before anyone starts contradicting me, some models still show inventory. Probably stocked before the golfer in chief released the mayhem.
 

Intersting, I didn't know they were Canadian, I've always presumed they were American - not that I've ever looked it up
 
Apparently, as of today, the tarrif rate is 145%.

So, that's not the end of the world, right? Your $5 batch of boards will cost $12.25.

Not so fast. The minimum tarrif amount to be collected is $100 per package. Your $5 batch of boards just went up to $100.

Perhaps you can add more boards or components to bring the total cost to $41. Then you'll maximize what with get for the $100 minimum tarrif.... unless they are sent in more than one package where you'll be fined an additional $100/package.

And yes, the $100 minimum duty is a fine on the person buying the items.
 
Get the Chinese supplier to ship the items to a penguin on Heard Island, then you can import them from there with only a 10% tariff and no minimum package charge .
 
alec_t said:
Get the Chinese supplier to ship the items to a penguin on Heard Island, then you can import them from there with only a 10% tariff and no minimum package charge .
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There is nobody in Heard Island, who will ship them to the
US? If you're going to say, "the penguins", I care to differ. They have a terrible work ethnic. No matter what you set in front of a penguin, they think it's a pebble and instantly fall in love with you. Nothing gets done - except... well, you know what. Let me assure, it was a hell of a trip to Antarctica.
 
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