Customs Do USA people have UPDATED Information on tariffs? And how to pay?

I am also in the US and having trouble finding information on how the tariffs will work. Someone I know asked their PO in a local town and they also received the information of this:


“ I asked about tariffs and…she said they don’t know yet, it isn’t clear. She said she thinks we probably will have to pay them, but it’s not been made clear if we do or it’s just businesses. But IF we do, she thinks you’ll probably get a postage due notification in your mailbox or email and you’ll pay it online. But not to quote her on that because they just really don’t know right now.” I hope this helps but I don’t think most offices even know yet in the US. But I agree, this is a major change for us and the doll hobby…

 

I think it's still very much developing and keeps changing. They already tried it a month ago and went back on it. The last headline I saw said they were on hold until Canada, Mexico, and China make a system in place to handle the tariffs, which is big lol because one country simply cannot make another country do anything.

My opinion on it is that, at this time, a tariff system in the US basically can't function, and that is why there are no solid answers to your questions. Give it a few more months (probably longer) and there might be some more clear information about it. I feel like, basically the infrastructure of every postal carrier needs to change, and that is a really big ask and just can't happen as quickly as they think it can or want it to.

This system would definitely be bad for the hobby, though, as well as many other collector hobbies. I'm waiting two doll bodies from China right now, with a head in transit to me, so I have no idea what to expect with all this.

 

It's all chaos right now, unfortunately. Currently, the "de minimis" rule is still in place (contrary to what was previously being said, because it KEEPS changing). That's that "under $800" difference.

A friend says that all packages he's received via DHL have required fees, even from countries not currently affected by tariffs. He received an email from DHL, but did not say how he'd paid. I've heard mostly about emails being received, texts are probably still a scam.

I got a package recently from China via USPS (it was sent airmail), and was not charged anything. But, I got a form on my door and had to pick it up at the main post office. They didn't say why they didn't leave it, and it wasn't eligible for redelivery. So if it's USPS, you might also get a paper notice. You may also see something in your tracking information.

I will certainly come back if I find out any other details! Like Seaweed said, it's just a nightmare combo of there being no plan, and no real system to deal with it.

 

The US Customs current policy on internet sales here. (A little light reading )
I couldn't find anything on the site about rule changes due to the tariffs, probably because they don't know either.

Note this paragraph on how to pay:
"How you pay duty depends on how your goods were shipped. If your goods were shipped through the International Postal Service, you will need to pay the mail carrier and/or go to your local post office to pay any duty and processing fees owed when your package arrives at that post office. If your goods were sent by a courier service, that service will either bill you for the duty they paid on your behalf or require payment on delivery."

A friend who had to pay duty on a DHL package said they left a delivery notice, so she was able to call DHL and reschedule delivery to a local shipping/mailing store, where she paid the duty when she picked it up.

I've received a couple of packages from China recently that were just delivered as usual, no fees.

 

@Anshishoku it's frustrating not knowing what to expect. Personally I think since I can do absolutely nothing about this, I'll ignore as best I can until there's something more concrete to worry about. Easier said than done, I know.

I have a feeling it's going to take them awhile to figure out how to implement all this, so maybe we have some breathing space.

 

I currently have a doll clothing package on the way but it’s not arrived yet from Alice’s Collections I ordered airmail from December and am wondering if it will have a charge yet. We’ll find out!

 

As of now, the USA is only imposing these new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. They are percentage based and product specific.

If you "import" (i.e. receive by mail from outside the country) something that is subject to the tariff, the amount due will be attached to the package and due either at delivery or pickup (higher amounts would be held at a local post office). Source: Customs Duty Information

No one will pre-contact you about tariff dues to pay, electronically or otherwise, so any claims of that nature are a scam. The amount you pay is based on the declared value, if the tariff is a percentage, or a flat rate based on the item type (this is less common).

Unless you are buying dolls from Canada, China, and Mexico, these tariffs will not affect you at all.

Furthermore, dolls/toys are not a primary export of the USA, and unless the three countries above are currently imposing a tariff on imports of our dolls/toys, the USA has no reason to impose a tariff on theirs.

Our niche little hobby is not likely to be affected at all, at least not directly, though we should expect to see an overall rise in costs for a lot of everyday products that we commonly import from other countries because they can produce them cheaper than we can (primarily due to the difference in labor costs).

Overall higher cost of living is more a threat than the actual tariffs, as Americans will simply have less money in their pocket to potentially spend on high-price art/hobbies like BJD.

Rest assured that I know what I'm talking about (and could go into the detail of why, but it's needlessly verbose), and unless the USA's current plan changes dramatically, we shouldn't expect to see the doll community affected by this in any significant way.

Unless the doll company is in China, in which case, it's a 50/50 chance that some item categories will get caught in the tariff dragnet, but it's very unlikely that this will sink anyone.

I think the misinformation and panic is doing more harm than any actual tariff amount would.

Paying an extra 10-20% sucks, but for those who already save up hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars to get these dolls, if we knew to expect it, I imagine we would be undeterred.

I wrote a much longer post on this last night, and woke up to it this morning un-sent and realized what a monolith it was, so this is the short version.

Hope this helps a little!

 

An update regarding the ending of the $800 de minius, Stickiply has put up some information. While it's a UK company it has some information about the new US custom rules that might be helpful!

 

I had a doll body ordered months ago from a Chinese company before the whole tariff thing became a legitimate issue. It just arrived this week and I paid approx $50 in tariff via email from DHL.

The company emailed me prior to shipping and asked if I wanted them to write a lower amount on the customs form because they knew that the tariff would be crazy on the actual price. Obviously, there are some risks with this if the package is lost or stolen, but I’m grateful they did this. It saved me so much money.