Any thoughts on the 145% Chinese tariff on purchases?

[coffeebreak]

Which ones? Elitewheels?

[jonathanf2]

From US stocks?

I'm always surfing bike parts on Amazon, so I feel like it's an early indicator of what's selling since third party vendors list their inventory stock on there. A month ago there were quite a few gravel wheelsets, but I'm seeing very little available.

Which ones? Elitewheels?

Elite Wheel gravel wheelsets are gone. Super Team gravel wheels which were plentiful are also sold out. I'm sure the higher priced gravel wheelsets will start to dwindle.

[Tijoe]

Looks like the Chinese Tariffs are dropping back down to 30%.  WOW!  What a deal!    Except... The bicycle industry in the USA has lost all of its tariff exemptions put in place back when the tariffs were only 20%,  plus the $800 De Minimis is gone, and it is still not clear what process or fees we will have to pay in order to get items ordered from China through US customs. 

I read that the Bicycle industry sent a letter to the Office of the President stating that POTUS had in effect destroyed the US bicycle industry.  To date, no feedback from POTUS, but my understanding is that the Bicycle industry has already filed for Tariff exemptions. 

What a waste of time, money and people's economic livelihood.   All this to suck out another 10% tax on the average American consumer?   

[coffeebreak]

Don't forget this is for 90 days.
Which means there is another round of this circus sometime in July unless the guy wakes up at midnight someday and fires off tweets saying 30% isn't good.

[jonathanf2]

It looks like a lot of "national tax" pricing has been baked into prices of items. At least for me, my Choice items get delivered by private courier direct from the distribution warehouse. I want to see how this will pan out for various small items. 

[Tijoe]

Ha anyone actually ordered and received items from Aliexpress since May 2nd?    I have been trying to find and read what the new system is dealing with items from China and Hong Kong.   Without the De Minimis, supposedly all the lower value items are supposed to be processed through the modified Type 11 Customs process.
Except...  There are some some interpretations of different fees that are being charged depending on  the level of automation and involvement by Customs.   Plus there are some percentage Tariff versus fixed charge regarding the tariffs.n On top of this, something about a huge fee being charged by USPS and/or the delivery carrier.   See below from one article I copied this from.

Entry Type 11 fees:

    $2.62 for Automated Entry or Release Not Prepared by CBP Personnel:
    $7.85 for Manual Entry or Release Not Prepared by CBP Personnel
    $11.78 for Entry or Release Prepared by CBP Personnel

In this example we will look at a shipment with customs value of $20 and country of manufacture of China. In this example, the shipment will qualify for Automated Entry or Release Not Prepared by CBP Personnel. The steps for calculating costs would be:

Since the shipment will be processed as Automated Entry or Release Not Prepared by CBP Personnel it will incur a $2.62 fee.


Since the Country of Origin is China, it will incur 20% IEEPA and 125% (now 10% for the next 90 days) retaliatory tariffs. 

Therefore, a $20 shipment will have a $2.62 additional fee from customs clearance and $29.00 tariff fee. Additionally, if it was mailed through the postal system there would be an additional 120% fee or $100 fee decided upon by the carrier.

The above examples assume that the merchant and their carrier complied with all the declaration requirements and, therefore, there were no additional delays. In cases of non-compliance, shipments will be held at customs, and further charges will be incurred for storage and brokerage. If the shipments are held too long, they will be “Returned to Sender” at the merchant’s expense, auctioned off, or destroyed.

Still very confusing regarding how much consumers will actually end up paying...

[coffeebreak]

Except...  There are some some interpretations of different fees that are being charged depending on  the level of automation and involvement by Customs.   Plus there are some percentage Tariff versus fixed charge regarding the tariffs.n On top of this, something about a huge fee being charged by USPS and/or the delivery carrier.   See below from one article I copied this from.

Still very confusing regarding how much consumers will actually end up paying...

While checking social media, I am seeing lot of people posting how UPS is ripping making money off of them by charging something called "broker fee". For example one guy was asked to pay nearly $400 in government charges (lol) and another 275 in UPS brokerage charge (LOL), so nearly $700. The package wasn't even from China but somewhere in Europe.

[Tijoe]

Another spin to the new China Trade deal.  Looks like our government is trying to cut out the ability of small businesses and consumers to be able to purchase items directly from China. 

Read this executive order

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/modifying-reciprocal-tariff-rates-to-reflect-discussions-with-the-peoples-republic-of-china/

Summary by Axios:

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/12/china-trade-deal-shein-temu-trump

[Serge_K]

Summary by Axios:

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/12/china-trade-deal-shein-temu-trump

Reading this, i think it means 54% tariff on sub 800$ parcels, and 30% if above $800.
In the EU, we pay VAT, essentially, so that's 19-25%. Maybe we pay a tad more, btw, EU is opaque, there may well be additional duties, then there's the question of what's actually declared, blablabla, and we're talking bike parts / aliexpress transactions, not chips, EVs and so on.
But for context, the difference is therefore let's say 22.5% in EU vs 54% in the US if <800. So, it's another 30% (which is a lot, but also, if you're buying bike bibs and cranksets, that wont put you on the street).
I think the de minimis threshold of 800 is what doesnt make sense in the 1st place, as it's a lot. In the EU it's 250, i think, which feels more reasonable if the argument is people buying bike cassettes & smoothie blenders.
If i understand right, up until now, you were paying nothing (no tariff, no VAT) on anything under 800? If so, how was that fair to 1. local businesses and 2. the state, as everything you buy locally gets taxed? Or is all this ON TOP of VAT?

the whole topic is such a shit sandwich, but there's got to be some kind of even playing field, just like dudes aren't supposed to box with chicks.

[Ludo]

Eu used to be clear, I am Not sure what changes : VAT + duty + fee from broker (often the carrier)

[MrJag]

If i understand right, up until now, you were paying nothing (no tariff, no VAT) on anything under 800? If so, how was that fair to 1. local businesses and 2. the state, as everything you buy locally gets taxed? Or is all this ON TOP of VAT?

We still paid state sales tax on imported items. Thats been built into the checkout process on Aliexpress for years.

[00Garza]

If i understand right, up until now, you were paying nothing (no tariff, no VAT) on anything under 800?

Correct. No VAT. Just what the item cost plus sales tax. Many of us US customers didn't know how good we had it. I'll admit it was unfair. Just hoping the tariff settles at a reasonable number.

[jonathanf2]

We still paid state sales tax on imported items. Thats been built into the checkout process on Aliexpress for years.

Unless you live in Oregon (and a few other states), no sales tax and those AliEx coupons really brought in massive savings.

Anyways, I'm probably going to take advantage of China's 10 day visa free/VAT free travel permit at some point. Probably pickup some groupsets while I'm there! 

[Chiyou]

How to avoid CBP scrutiny:
1. Route parcel through your favorite petrostate
2. Mark as 'aircraft parts'
3. Specify destination as Trump Presidential Library

Perfectly valid for goods worth up to $400 million.

[glepore]

How to avoid CBP scrutiny:
1. Route parcel through your favorite petrostate
2. Mark as 'aircraft parts'
3. Specify destination as Trump Presidential Library

Perfectly valid for goods worth up to $400 million.

That's sort of funny. Delta recently diverted an Airbus being delivered to the US to a overseas route for a couple trips so that it would come into the US as "used" as a tariff dodge.