Any U.S. vendor who relies on supplies originating in countries affected by tariffs can be affected.

For example, U.S.-based 3D printing vendors like us whose machines, resins, vat films, repair parts, packing materials, and other consumables are sourced from China, are likely to see increased costs as a result of tariffs imposed on Chinese goods. Those costs could be passed on to their customers - you and me.

Bloomberg reported on February 1st that the “de minimis” exemption is commonly used by Chinese eCommerce retailers to sell goods at lower prices by making small shipments directly to consumers in the U.S., rather than making large bulk shipments to U.S. distributors.

The elimination of the exemption could affect online retailers like Alibaba, JD.com, Shein and Temu, and online marketplaces like eBay, through which many US modelers buy Chinese hobby products. Temu, for example, has benefited from this exemption by offering low prices to shoppers who were willing to wait for the goods to be delivered. Brick and mortar stores like Walmart, Michaels and Hobby Lobby may also be affected by the imposition of tariffs.

There is still much uncertainty. We have been closely monitoring prices of the Chinese-sourced supplies we need to produce our models. We are not in a position to be able to absorb any price increases.

We source our machines and consumables from China simply because those high-quality products are either not produced in the U.S. (e.g. 3D printers and resins), or are available elsewhere but at a substantially increased cost (e.g. packing materials).

We deeply regret to report that we may have to increase the prices of our products, and perhaps shipping costs too, in order to compensate for any tariffs imposed on machines, consumables and packing materials sourced from overseas suppliers. We are very aware that many of our customers are retirees on fixed incomes who are very sensitive to any cost increases.