You don't need me to tell you how stupid tariffs are - all the increased costs are simply passed onto the consumer. But there is a new US policy that went into effect last week that, as far as I'm aware, has not been discussed in the media too extensively but which directly impacts me and many others. And that is that the US de minimis has been eliminated. What does that mean? Basically, before last week any items worth less than $800 were allowed to enter into the US duty and tax free. Now all shipments into the US - regardless of value - are subject to duties and customs clearance. As someone who occasionally obtains trading cards from UK, Canadian and Asian buyers - this is a major change that impacts me. If you purchase any item that ships from outside the US, then you need to pay import fees. And the cherry on top, you don't even know how much you will owe. Which is ridiculous. All kinds of factors can influence what you're charged - item type, value, country of origin. Plus processing fees added on by the shipping carrier or US customs - which is just plain outrageous. This is just a horrific change in policy, and open to all kinds of scams - think fake customs or delivery fee requests. I encountered the new fees directly the other day for the first time when I bought a trading card from a Canadian buyer. When I went to checkout, I wasn't expecting to see a message telling me "Due to US policies, import fees for this order will need to be paid to customs or the shipping carrier on delivery". I'm not dealing with that - so I got around it by instead arranging delivery to the UK. So apologies to my mum in advance if she starts to receive more packages addressed to me. Blame the Trump administration.
