> Just to get the numbers right: [0] there is a $25 minimum, that becomes $50 June 1st, on all packages below or at $800.
Things are changing very quickly, so it's hard to keep up. But I believe this was revised on April 9th to $100 dollars a package from HK or PRC on May 2, and $200 a package starting June 1.
> (b) increase the per postal item containing goods duty in section 2(c)(ii) of Executive Order 14256, as modified by the Executive Order dated April 8, 2025, that is in effect on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 2, 2025, and before 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on June 1, 2025, from 75 dollars to 100 dollars; and
> (c) increase the per postal item containing goods duty in section 2(c)(ii) of Executive Order 14256, as modified by the Executive Order dated April 8, 2025, that is in effect on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on June 1, 2025, from 150 dollars to 200 dollars.
I haven’t gotten something from Aliexpress “sent through the international postal network” in a very long time (15 months or more and I think probably several years). Most everything I get comes from an Aliexpress-run line haul (which brokers the export and import customs clearance) and then is delivered by a local carrier (usually UniUni or another one they started calling themselves recently).
Sometimes they use Cainaio which uses USPS for last mile delivery, but based on the timings of tracking events, I think are still line-hauled and cleared by Cainaio as the broker rather than via the “international postal network”.
Both of those case would fall under the first of the sub-bullets ("will be subject to all applicable duties") rather than the second.
I agree the $50 would kill the current cheap [postal] shipping of PCBs, but I’m pretty sure JLCPCB, PCBWay, etc will all switch to line hauls as well (which might even end up being cheaper than DHL that I usually pick now).
It’s annoying, but I don’t think it marks the end of cheap hobby electronics parts; they just got a little less cheap.
That's an interesting thing to say after tariff-on / tariff-off high intensity workouts almost every day. Not to mention the great desire to fire everyone standing in the way of the glorious inflation... did you take that into account while calculating the "little less cheap" thing?
Just read the executive order linked in presto8's comment (above yours) and tell me you are sure what it means. Spaghetti legislation is nothing new but this is worse than a noodle trash container in the back yard of a Chinese restaurant. In the age of AI... presumably.
He's not a king, he's CEO In Chief. This is the inevitable result of a society which pathologically mistrusts government on principle, but which worships celebrity and free market capitalism. It's surprising the pretense of being a Republic lasted as long as it did.
If we actually had pathological mistrust of government, Trump simply wouldn't have the power to do all the crazy shit he's doing.
But we don't. What we do have is pathological mistrust of our political opponents in the government. More so on the right, but it's fairly pervasive. So "small government" gets used as a way to trip up your opposition when it's in power, but as soon as you get the reins, it's full steam ahead.
Prior to 2016 I had no such thing, nor did pretty much anyone I know on the left. I disagreed with, for example, Romney, but I didn't pathologically fear or mistrust him. Bush was a war criminal, but what president hasn't been since WW2?
This started with Obama. The audacity of a black man to be president had so many people I thought were reasonable saying, with no hint of Jest, that he was the Antichrist. Suddenly mustard flavors and suit colors were signs of the apocalypse. And ever since then the left have been "the enemy within" meant to be rooted out.
Trump, of course, spent his time amplifying this message. And his campaign and presidency is what drove the left into pathological fear.
Conservative racism poisoned the blood of our nation yet again.
So, there is something very important buried in this comment that is either incorrect or not widely known: are you saying that said shipments bypass the de minimus clause and “only” be subject to the (130% or whatever) tariffs, if they use non-postal shipping methods? Because that is a really big deal if it’s the case, compared to $200 a package.
Cainaio is used for AliExpress Choice and Standard Shipping, part of AliBaba also. In USPS, it usually shows up as Albatross America. I went on an electronic parts AE binge prior to tariffs.
So those $0.25 transistors - after June 1st - come at $50.25 plus shipping.
[0] https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-pr...