Turns out there was a thing called the De Minimis exception. It was a loop hole where nothing under $800 value was being charged tarrif fees because it was too small potatoes to bother with the paperwork and such.
So that's why me and others ordering Wild King didn't get charged.
Bad News: Supposedly the government has closed the loophole as of yesterday. So I havnt tried but I assume anyone trying to order them now should get tarrif hits.
-ZacWilliam, it's apparently very bad news for aliexpress, temu and the like. Not to mention shoppers in general.
Yeah, I’d heard about the de minimis and it ending. I haven’t ordered anything from overseas this past week because of that. (I just wish I’d known about the Amazon Japan Wild King situation a little sooner!)
I’m real curious to see how it plays out going forward. I’m expecting the worst. No more Takara toys for me for the foreseeable future. I’ve got some stuff on pre order I don’t think I’ll ever see.
I can’t find a lot on the internet regarding tariffs and individual buyers. I saw one Reddit post about headphones or some kind of audio equipment (above $800) that someone got charged tariffs for. I guess we’ll be seeing more chatter in the coming weeks.
It should be specified that the de minimis exemption ending is
only for goods with a country of origin of China or Hong Kong. (Note that 'country of origin' here does not refer to where a product was shipped from, but where it was manufactured. So Made in China product shipped from Japan: No more de minimis, you gotta pay those 145% tariffs. Made in Japan product shipped from Japan under $800: De minimis still applies, no tariffs. Made in Japan product shipped from Japan over $800: Over the limit, you gotta pay the 10% tariff. Made in China product shipped within the US of A?: No tariffs because it's already in the country, tariffs only apply to products entering through customs).
Admittedly, I don't know where the Wild King toys are manufactured but
assuming they are like all modern Transformers toys which are now manufactured in Vietnam, then the de minimis exemption would still apply. (For now - the government is 'officially' planning on ending it for all countries in the future but who the hug knows with this admin they change their mind every week)
