A quick look at EvilBay shows a return of the $200 shipping from China but also somebody in Poland charging $500 shipping. I’m prepared to not indulge my model collecting hobby for however long but folks like Model Monkey and other small shops all over the world are taking a big and IMHO unnecessary economic hit. I have one parcel from Oz that I really really hope makes it.
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I wonder what would happen if someone in the USA started a 3D and Decal printing company, herded up all the foreign companies that produce stuff in those forms, got them under contract, and started manufacturing all that stuff locally. I am not just talking about model stuff. All of it. Every industry. Every product. Automate the manufacturing process as much as possible. Handle all the mailing inside the United States. I wonder if such a company would be viable using current manufacturing technology. Such a company could even do injection molding.
The problem is, starting a business based on laws that could change at any moment is pretty much insane. It could be done, but only if the rules are clarified and adopted for long term enforcement.
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Thankfully, Wingnut Wings’ production won’t be affected! 
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Going back to the original post/point, and BNA customers…
Clarifying article here:
So it’s like the Prohibition era all over again, and how did that work out for y’all? The Mob will have already worked out the workaround. Because parcels labelled “gift” and sub-US$100 value will continue to be waved through into the USA from Australia, an enterprising guy in Oz could set up as an intermediary/agent who takes order from US individuals, orders them from BNA at local parcel rates, then forwards the parcel/parcels labelled as above into the USA. Oh and takes their healthy cut, natch 
Besides, who’s to say what the US$ value is of what’s effectively a 2nd-hand kit/kits to the “gift-recipient” in the USA….? And even If caught, one could argue that because it’s a “gift”, as the “donor” one didn’t want the recipient to see the true value written on the parcel. I guess the only risk would be the necessary undervaluing for transit insurance.
Anyhoo, because I’m already a multi-billionaire from all my previous ideas…in my head…I’m not volunteering, sorry. Actually I don’t want to cross the Mob, I remember the dead Kennedys 
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The expertise for this is currently overseas. By the time we get something going, they(overseas) will be on the next generation. So if you wanted the latest, you would buy from overseas. Knowing our cost of production is generally higher, you could get a previous generation at a higher cost if you bought here.
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The USA is posting a 4 trillion reduction because…the 4 trillion is being pulled from Americans to pay the tariffs. That will be 4 trillion pulled out of the working economy to give to the government. So if 4 trillion debt reduction is good, we could make it great and pull an additional 4 trillion out and further reduce the debt. Humm… wonder if pulling that much out of the economy will cause any economic issues?
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Barely.
That beast has taken on a life of its own …
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That handling fee kills most smallish orders, the Swedish fee is more then $10,
even if the tariff and the VAT is less.
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Swedish customs made a similar agreement with Chinese ebay-equivalents after seeing a
sh-tload of small packages arriving from China.
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Yep. Uncertainty kills a lot of initiatives.
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Buying from the US using ebay.
I’m interested in this second hand kit:
Kit is $24.99
Shipping is $34.94
There are other offers for this kit in the US, I think this is the cheapest one.
In most cases the shipping cost is higher than the price of the kit.
I think I will wait and hope for a seller in Europe …
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Of possible interest: Some recent news of tariffs effecting ‘Quinta Studio 3D Printed Details.’
“HobbyNut Models – Quinta Studio Update”
Regards,
—mike
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One of the ways Chinese companies get round EU import duties is by sending everything as a separate parcel rather than as a single shipment to a distributor, as likely as not marked as being a gift with a value less than what’s actually in the package, and to all kinds of different addresses. First of all, those separate packages overwhelm the inspectors so they can only do random checks instead of on entire shipments. Then comes the next trick: as soon as a package clears customs, the sender is notified and changes the destination to that of the EU distributor.
I suspect similar methods could work with the USA as well, because the only real counters are to either require packages to be bundled into large shipments — but how are you going to enforce that? — or to hire enough people that you don’t build up a backlog of incoming packages — which isn’t really viable, cost-wise.
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I’m going to see them in few weeks, great band
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I have received a few packages from China routed through Luxemburg …
When it arrives in Sweden the package has some company in Luxemburg as sender.
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Lucky Model prior to the tariff issue, had local warehouses to cut down on shipping issue. Not all products but a decent size of plastic kits. I am sure some companies will go this route. Large manufacturers like Tamiya have HQ in Japan but also spin offs like Tamiya USA and Tamiya Europe probably to get help with some of these issues prior to current issues.
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Happened with the Steel industry.
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Which is very ironic.
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People still drink Fanta?? Cool!
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