Hong Kong Suspends Post of Goods to U.S.

[SkyKing]

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s post office will stop shipping small parcels to the United States after Washington announced plans to charge tariffs on small-value parcels from the southern Chinese city, the government said Wednesday. 

The U.S. government earlier announced that it would end a customs exception allowing small-value parcels from Hong Kong to enter the U.S. without tax, slapping a 120% tariff on them starting from May 2. The “de minimis” exemption currently allows shipments that are worth less than $800 to go tax-free. 

A government statement said Hongkong Post would not collect tariffs on behalf of Washington, and will suspend accepting non-airmail parcels containing goods destined for the U.S. on Wednesday, since items shipped by sea take more time. It will accept airmail parcels until Apr. 27. 

“For sending items to the US, the public in Hong Kong should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the U.S.’s unreasonable and bullying acts,” the government wrote. 

Source: https://apnews.com/article/hong-kong-post-us-suspend-shipping-goods-tariff-0a52db6fc32e559cb6c5e42b8c9824d7

[Ron Bell]

I thought I heard on this morning's news that it wasn't just Hong Kong but rather that the Chinese government has "asked" it's postal service not to process packages to/from the US, but I might have that wrong. If so, Temu is pretty much dead in the water isn't it?

[SkyKing]

I think Dragon/DML kits come from Hong Kong, as do High Planes kits and many 3D printed items. 

Shipments from China are also in limbo. This was posted on the Steel Navy forum:

”I’ve noticed that some but not all vendors of 3D-printed ship model kits out of China are quoting shipping from $200 to $1,000. An example is some (at least) SSModel kits in 1/700 or 1/350.”

And, “I e-mailed one of the sellers, and received a very prompt and nice reply, including, "Due to the increase in tariffs by the US government, we are unable to do business with our American friends. After the tariff issue is resolved, we will return to our previous state."

Edited April 16, 2025 by SkyKing

[ghodges]

And thus the benefit of having a stash! Give things time and it'll all calm down, even if it's never quite as cheap as it was before. In the meantime, it's a great time to hit the vendor areas at shows and your local hobby shop IF you still have one. 

Even if this becomes a sort of "permanent" change, we'll adapt to it just like most of us have had to adapt to not having a local hobby shop to frequent. In fact, it may even be a business opportunity for someone who finds a way to get those "hard to get" items to modelers in a cheaper way.

After dealing with the oil crisis of the 70s, the electronic game invasion of the 80s, and the "aging" of our modeling demographic (all touted as an end to modeling as we know it), I'm not going to wring my hands and worry.

 

Gil 

[noelsmith]

This is where the I in IPMS might be useful.  Not everyone is being hit by the effects of tariffs.

So members of IPMS in those countries might be able to obtain stuff and post it on.  Who knows ?

[EFGrune]

Tariffs are based on the country of origin,  not on the country from which is purchased.   If one were to buy a kit of Chinese manufacture from a vendor in, lets say Canada, hoping to only pay 10% tariff and avoid the 145% (or 40% or whatever it might be next week) tariff and US Customs inspects the parcel to find Made in China printed on the box or molded into a part, the full tariff is due.   The item may be confiscated as contraband.   Additionally if the vendor falsified the Customs label the vendor could have additional fraud charges levied on them, loose the ability to import to the US or face stricter scrutiny.

I'm not a lawyer, nor did I play one on TV

[BWScholten]

Not concerned as I'll just slowly make my way through my stash. 

They are just gouging people and blaming the tariffs.  The cost of shipping doesn't go up because the price of the product went up.

Remember that when choosing who you do business with.

I will.

[Roktman]

I think potential customers should check the individual producer for news. I just checked Anigrand - did you know they're BACK! -  and they have posted that their kits to the USA will be going thru Japan - 

"Due to suspension of all postal services from Hong Kong to United States started from April 25th, 2025, all the packages from that date will be sent from Japan postal airmail. The shipping time to the United States will take longer than normal, estimating around 3~4 weeks."

So you may not necessarily be losing out on a new favorite kit. It'll just take longer to get.  HTH.