Nick Fernandez / Android Authority
Replace (2:47 PM ET February 7, 2025): After sending importers right into a panic these previous few days, the Trump administration has as soon as once more backed away from an aggressive coverage change, at the moment asserting that eradicating the de minimis exemption for lower-value imports of products from China is on indefinite maintain. The White Home explains that the US will resume accepting these imports with out tariffs till “notification by the Secretary of Commerce to the President that sufficient techniques are in place to totally and expediently course of and gather tariff income.”
Mainly, it put the cart earlier than the horse and introduced this huge change with out being prepared to really gather tariffs on all these things. As soon as individuals and procedures to deal with them are in place, the de minimis exemption ought to once more be eliminated. However till that day arrives, go nuts on Temu.
Replace (8:49 AM ET February 5, 2025): Official documentation from the US Customs and Border Patrol states that every one shipments from China will now be topic to formal processing charges, no matter their worth. The USPS has resumed accepting packages from China and Hong Kong, however will start gathering charges and tariffs.
Authentic article (8:15 AM ET February 5, 2025): The gaming handheld market has exploded lately, however now the whole lot has come crashing to a halt with a brief submit on the USPS web site: “Efficient Feb. 4, the Postal Service will briefly droop solely worldwide package deal acceptance of inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong Posts till additional discover.”
Whereas the textual content says it solely impacts China Submit and Hong Kong Submit, the truth has been totally different. As reported by Wired, transportation firms are already having vans turned away on the border in the event that they include packages from China.
Practically each gaming handheld available on the market is made in China and usually ships from there. That is the case for smaller firms promoting on AliExpress and fan favorites like Retroid, which sells by itself web site.
Handhelds might be topic to 30% taxes, plus $3-22 in flat customs charges.
It’s price mentioning that almost all of those shipments don’t undergo USPS, however the announcement will seemingly have a chilling impact on the remainder of the business. In any case, the whole lot has to move by US Customs, which has already stepped up inspection and enforcement.
That is occurring due to a current govt order by President Trump, which not solely provides a ten% tariff to items from China but in addition eliminates the de minimis customs exception on items below $800. Beforehand, this meant packages might come into the US with out customs inspections or charges, resulting in the flourishing of platforms like AliExpress and Temu. An estimated 1.36 billion packages entered the US this fashion in 2024.
The Biden administration additionally proposed the concept of eradicating the de minimis exemption however by no means finalized any plans. It’s not but clear what the outcomes of this transformation will likely be, however patrons might be not simply taxes and tariff prices, but in addition costly customs charges.
In keeping with Taki Udon, a well-liked handheld reviewer and creator, flat customs charges can vary anyplace from $3-22, plus 35% of the declared worth in taxes. For a budget handhelds which have flooded the market lately, that might be recreation over.
