Trade wars and Frame Delivery

[klindsey00]

Parlee is real.

And 5500USD+ a framset

Maybe we'll see more US produced carbon bikes move past the vaporware point.

https://bikerumor.com/lemond-8-carbon-road-bike/

They would also want an arm, a leg, and your left kidney

[jerozilla]

Maybe we'll see more US produced carbon bikes move past the vaporware point.

https://bikerumor.com/lemond-8-carbon-road-bike/

Unlikely the skilled labour and tooling it takes just isn't that big of a thing in the USA and as soon as it's USA based you're looking at $5k frames typically (Enve, Parlee, etc).

[bremerradkurier]

Unlikely the skilled labour and tooling it takes just isn't that big of a thing in the USA and as soon as it's USA based you're looking at $5k frames typically (Enve, Parlee, etc).

MSRP for current year S-works framesets is $5500 and Pinarello Dogma are almost $7k for Taiwan/western mainland Taiwan production.

The skilled labor and tooling probably also exist between aerospace and maybe even the surfboard/sailboat industries

[danymax]

I placed an order for a light carbon frame mid March, I ordered a new model that is yet to be released and I was told it would be shipped the first week of May, at that time I wasn't expecting all this tariff nonsense to escalate to this point. The frame hasn't shipped yet, I'm in the US, how screwed am I? would the fact that the invoice shows as paid in March be of any use to avoid tariffs? Should I try to cancel the order?

[00Garza]

I placed an order for a light carbon frame mid March, I ordered a new model that is yet to be released and I was told it would be shipped the first week of May, at that time I wasn't expecting all this tariff nonsense to escalate to this point. The frame hasn't shipped yet, I'm in the US, how screwed am I? would the fact that the invoice shows as paid in March be of any use to avoid tariffs? Should I try to cancel the order?

Tariffs are applied at arrival. Date of purchase won’t matter unfortunately. Unless you’re wanting to deal with the possibility of paying ridiculous fees, the safe bet is to cancel. Get your money back and see how this all plays out. You can try ordering later if it’s still within budget.

[Blueberry]

I placed an order for a light carbon frame mid March, I ordered a new model that is yet to be released and I was told it would be shipped the first week of May, at that time I wasn't expecting all this tariff nonsense to escalate to this point. The frame hasn't shipped yet, I'm in the US, how screwed am I? would the fact that the invoice shows as paid in March be of any use to avoid tariffs? Should I try to cancel the order?

I bet they'll declare the value as a lot less than you actually paid. You could ask them to send you a copy of the commercial invoice when they ship it so you can check what value they declare (that's what the tariff should be based on). If you don't want to pay, you can probably refuse to receive the shipment. It would be a big bummer to go through that and not receive it though :/

[PANW]

Hey guys, I’m reviving this thread to see if anyone in the US has purchased a frame through AliExpress since the tariffs were enacted.
The frame I am interested in is ~$300 more on AliExpress vs the direct website, but they claim that the price includes shipping, taxes and import charges.
Does anyone have any experience with this and can say if it’s legit?
It would be nice to have the tariffs covered upfront so I don’t have to worry what it might cost upon arrival but I’m highly skeptical.

Thank you in advance for any help!!

[Tijoe]

Hey guys, I’m reviving this thread to see if anyone in the US has purchased a frame through AliExpress since the tariffs were enacted.
The frame I am interested in is ~$300 more on AliExpress vs the direct website, but they claim that the price includes shipping, taxes and import charges.
Does anyone have any experience with this and can say if it’s legit?
It would be nice to have the tariffs covered upfront so I don’t have to worry what it might cost upon arrival but I’m highly skeptical.

Thank you in advance for any help!!

If the listing in Aliexpress states "import charges included" they you will not have to pay anything additional to get your item through customs.

After the $800 deminimis was eliminated, Items entering the USA through customs follow the following process:

1. Seller/shipper must declare your shipment accurately, including its value, item type, and complete documentation to ensure the customs broker or logistics provider assigns the correct entry type.

2. When goods arrive in the U.S., they will be processed through customs under one of several entry types. That is determined based on the shipment’s value, contents, and purpose.
Informal, Formal, Sectiion 321.
3. Seller/shipper supplies the HTS 10 digit code.
4 Ahead of time the shipper calculates the merchandise Processing Fee (MPF), adds the 10% Baseline Tariff, + the current Reciprocal Tariff, and/or Excise Duty and then a processing fee.   They pay this ahead of time before the package hits the dock. 
5.  This process hides that you, the consumer, is actually paying for the tariff, AKA huge tax!, because these charges are front loaded in what the seller prices your item/s at.

Aliexpress stores have significantly increased prices and/or listed shipping costs to account for the taxes we are now paying to bring items in via Aliexpress.

[PANW]

Thank you very much!

[Sakizashi]

Hey guys, I’m reviving this thread to see if anyone in the US has purchased a frame through AliExpress since the tariffs were enacted.
The frame I am interested in is ~$300 more on AliExpress vs the direct website, but they claim that the price includes shipping, taxes and import charges.
Does anyone have any experience with this and can say if it’s legit?
It would be nice to have the tariffs covered upfront so I don’t have to worry what it might cost upon arrival but I’m highly skeptical.

Thank you in advance for any help!!

If you have to deal with shipping, I strongly advise against DHL, the fees that go with the tariffs were astronomical. I paid a total of $150 for $300 worth of CNC metal parts. The same order, through FedEx and UPS, was a $15 fee plus $50-$60 in tariffs, and the rates remained unchanged during that time.

I recently purchased an LTK266-D-SL, and the tariffs and shipping costs were quite reasonable through UPS. ~$200 together. However, all carriers now require the Tax ID of the consignee (importer) before they accept shipment. If you are a business and have already taken precautions, supplying your EIN is fine, as it's already required for many purposes. However, if you don't have an EIN or ITN, you need to supply your SSN. The benefit of this shipping method is that it's fast. 2-4 days is typical.

Because AliExpress and prepaid duty shippers typically use a 3PL (usually paired with a shell company) to take custody of their products before reshipping, you don't need to supply a Tax ID. This should be cheaper and safer for most customers.

[Blueberry]

I've noticed a few AliX prices have jumped significantly Pass Quest chainrings are like $90 now. I think they were $40-50 before.

[Sakizashi]

I've noticed a few AliX prices have jumped significantly Pass Quest chainrings are like $90 now. I think they were $40-50 before.

Yeah, Passquest claims to use US-sourced aluminum, so they are paying increased import cost on their side + we pay more to buy it to bring that born in the USA billet back home.

[Tijoe]

My Spcycle hardtail frame cost me a total of $422.16 in Nov. 2021, and I thought it was a great price back then.   Today the total price with more expensive shipping is only $457.16.   I am not sure how they are baking the Tariffs into this price.(Only $35 more, 4 years later?) 
I like this frame a lot and have been tempted to purchase another.  On principle,  I haven't wanted to make any more expensive transactions because of the Tariffs.
I need to review details of Spcycle's current offerings, and see if there are any great improvements to my SP-M05 frame.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802796251755.html

Is the lower price for this frame due to its age, or is Aliexpress and the seller eating some/most of the tariffs?

[Ludo]

They ship everything with very low déclarée value and may only the minimum

[PANW]

If you have to deal with shipping, I strongly advise against DHL, the fees that go with the tariffs were astronomical. I paid a total of $150 for $300 worth of CNC metal parts. The same order, through FedEx and UPS, was a $15 fee plus $50-$60 in tariffs, and the rates remained unchanged during that time.

I recently purchased an LTK266-D-SL, and the tariffs and shipping costs were quite reasonable through UPS. ~$200 together. However, all carriers now require the Tax ID of the consignee (importer) before they accept shipment. If you are a business and have already taken precautions, supplying your EIN is fine, as it's already required for many purposes. However, if you don't have an EIN or ITN, you need to supply your SSN. The benefit of this shipping method is that it's fast. 2-4 days is typical.

Because AliExpress and prepaid duty shippers typically use a 3PL (usually paired with a shell company) to take custody of their products before reshipping, you don't need to supply a Tax ID. This should be cheaper and safer for most customers.

Thank you for this information!