We’re writing this with a bit of a tear in our eye, but unfortunately all good things must come to an end…
Following recent changes in the US which will result in an end to the “De Minimis” entry allowance for goods shipped to the US, we will regrettably be suspending shipping to the US for the foreseeable future after Friday 22nd August.
Basically, the current system means that goods up to the value of $800 shipped into the US are not subject to any customs charges or tariffs.
It’s not something we’ve ever promoted really as it was in fact a very high allowance compared to some areas, and was always seen as something that it’s best not to draw attention to, for fear of losing it… but here we are anyway…
Essentially customs would look at the value and think “it’s not worth the time/expense to process” and it gets a green light, a bit like wafting through the “nothing to declare” line at the airport.
This has worked well for a lot of our customers over the years and in fact has been seen as a bit of a “bonus” for Americans wanting to source the better quality parts available from Europe.
This allowance will end on the 29th August, which in itself wouldn’t be an issue if there was simple a process whereby the fees are charged to the receiver on arrival in customs, who then release the goods. It’s a great system and works well almost everywhere else in the developed world!
However, that would be too easy it seems.
So the proposed system is that no goods will be accepted into the US without these costs being paid in advance. And that means they have to be collected by the exporter (which is us).
This for a small business like ours is something that’s simply not possible. It would mean implementing a system whereby we estimate these additional costs on the sale, and charge the customer.
And those charges have to be paid to US customs before the goods ship.
It’s a crazy situation really that means even more complications to shipping to the US than those we’ve recently seen, and an increase not only in costs to customers there, but also a substantial increase in our time and costs to do it.
Given the (what we will diplomatically refer to as the “unpredictable”) nature of the US attitude towards imports, frankly we’re not willing to invest in implementing a system which will cost us quite a bit of time and money, and which may not even be required in a few weeks time when your Supreme Leader wakes up and gets out of a different side of the bed.
So, rather than risk us shipping anything that won’t have passed through US customs when this change is applied, the last date for us shipping orders to the US will be Friday 22nd August, which gives it a week to be cleared and so we don’t end up with loads of orders being returned uncleared.
After that, for the moment at least as far as Brickwerks are concerned, it’s Vana….gone. 🙁
