Hacker News Reader

Comment by patrickhogan1 | Hacker News Reader

The US is eliminating its $800 duty-free import threshold. This isn't radical. It mostly brings America in line with what other major markets already do (or are about to do).

EU: Only packages under €150 ($160) are duty-free, and they're planning to scrap even that. Since 2021, they collect VAT on everything, no matter how small.

Japan: Has a ¥10,000 ($70) threshold now, but already announced they're killing it by late 2026.

China: Basically no threshold at all. You only avoid duty if the calculated tax is under $7. Even their special e-commerce imports pay 70% of normal VAT.

View on HN

- €150 is higher than 0€ - Also, you are fully wrong. The EU has an import duty of 0% on pretty much anything, especially electronics. Here, the de minimis is about the VAT. Which you therefore also are wrong about. No, there is no VAT on items below €150 - because that what our de minimis is about. Also, import VAT is easy to process. Because it's always the same amount for everything - 19% in Germany, for example. For tariffs you need to know what is INSIDE the package. - China's high tech economy does not depend on small imports. Also, they do have de minimis for import VAT, and 0% import duty on lots of stuff (again, including electronics)

The problem for low-value items is not the import duty. It's the delay of processing.

I am running an electronics development company in the EU. To us it's mission critical to be able to get devkits, samples, prototypes, spare parts etc within 5 days from China.

I would not mind having to pay $1 of duty on a $10 part. I would be in huge trouble having to wait for that part 30 days.

Also: As always, Trump gave nobody any time whatsoever to prepare. The US now suddenly will have to hire thousands of customs employees. New machinery to transport all of this. New warehouses for storing stuff that sits for customs processing.

You could not be more off here. This will turn out to be a gigantic disadvantages for huge bunch of the innovative parts of the US economy. In our industry, nothing matters more than time to get parts.

As you have noticed: All other countries have LOWERED de minimis, and they did this with 12-18 months of advance notice.

Thailand last year tried to get rid of de minimis. They reverted the decision after ONE WEEK.

You are completely underestimating the amount of the US shooting into their own feet AGAIN here. In these days of global shipping volume you MUST have de minimis a country, or else you will be de-coupled from global R&D markets.

I'm in the EU, and in this corner of it it's damn near impossible to import anything, no matter how small.

I would be delighted if de minimis rules applied to imports. But everyone I know who has tried to import trivial items - books, small presents, and such - has been slapped with wildly unpredictable and excessive costs, and long delays while the paperwork clears.

As for the US - yes, clearly the goal is the destruction of government, health, education, research, and the economy in general. Whatever the people nominally in charge think they're doing, the people who are advising them and setting policy are either cranks or traitors.

Given their links to other countries, it's hard not to suspect the latter.

>Given their links to other countries, it's hard not to suspect the latter.

Interesting... Which people are you talking about and which countries?

Most “mission-critical” R&D parts will still clear in < 48 hours. Express carriers already transmit full data to CBP before wheels-up. Type 86 filings have been required “upon or prior to arrival” since Feb 2024, so the paperwork is literally done while the flight is in the air.

This will shift important inventory to local distributors in the US. This makes local supply chains more resilient, not more vulnerable.

Ah, how I love americans still living in the bubble thinking they are relevant.

No, you will neither get an Intel N100 devkit in the US, nor any Realtek devkits.

No, your supply chains will not get "more resilient". The industry simply is no longer taking your country as a trustworthy an serious trading partner.

If you want to do R&D in electronics, you need quick imports from China.

Yes, the US is totally prepared now for a future of coal powered steam trains, true. Have fun with that :)

Intel N100 devkits are primarily made in Oregon and Arizona in the US.

Realtek devkits are made in Taiwan.

China is clearly important. Nothing here changes that. Orders will just shift to bulk and get sourced from local distributors.

At least I have to order the devkits from China, can't get them from the US.

As you know, in practical terms china/taiwan/hongkong don't make a difference anymore when it comes to customs and shipping times.

But I understand and value that you understand the business, and we are looking at it from a different angle and potentially from inside/outside a bubble.

I understand your point that markets will adapt looking at it on a large scale. But the question is HOW the market is adapting. In the US far too many people are assuming that the world will bend for Trumpamerica.

In reality the world is at least in my industry is doing free-trade agreements in record time now. And the people in China I work with are not even thinking about the US market anymore at all. The future markets are elsewhere on this planet. What they care about is that the EU won't buck to Trump and also implement any kind of trade barriers against China just to please Trump.

And again: You are talking about bulk distribution. I am talking about small businesses, R&D, rapid prototyping, time to market. Days count. Every day I wait for a prototype I have developers sitting here doing nothing. You can not "shift" that problem. There is only one region where you are able to get not just SOME of the electronic parts you need, but ALL of them.

And that very clearly is not the USA.

> In Executive Order 14193 of February 1, 2025 (Imposing Duties To Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Northern Border), I declared a national emergency regarding the unusual and extraordinary threat to the safety and security of Americans, including the public health crisis caused by fentanyl and other illicit drugs and the failure of Canada to do more to arrest, seize, detain, or otherwise intercept drug trafficking organizations, other drug and human traffickers, criminals at large, and illicit drugs

Yes, totally normal and not radical at all.

I really don't get why HN posters feel the need to polish a turd.

could you maybe respond to the point made in the comment you are replying to? If it’s a good idea for all those other countries, why does the idea become a “turd” when america does it? is this some kind of “manifest destiny” (to be dumber than other countries)???

Those Canadians - gonna getcha

Unsurprising, since if I were an importer, and I saw I can get tax-free just by breaking things up into small quantities, guess what I'm doing

Paying postage/shipping multiple times?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com