USA Tariffs and the end of the De-Minimus exemption
Regarding the tariffs on orders being imported to the United States and the elimination of the de-minimus exemption
Note: Check daily updates at the bottom of the page.
FACT: Tariffs are a tax levied by a country’s government, and charged to importers of goods into that country.
FACT: The De-Minimus exemption is a dollar value, below which imports remain duty/tariff free. For the USA, the de-minimus exemption is currently $800. This exemption is slated to be eliminated on September 1st.
August 7, 2025
To my American friends and valued customers,
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have heard about the tariffs imposed by the US government on imports into your country. The rates and timing of it all seem to change daily, making it very difficult to navigate as a small business owner. There is great confusion and worry amongst small businesses on what this will mean for them and if they will be able to continue to operate in the current climate. LowproKB falls squarely in the group of businesses that will likely be seriously impacted by these trade decisions.
The long and the short of it, as it relates to LowproKB, is that the US is hitting imports from China very hard. Unfortunately, most of the product that gets consumed in the keyboard market is manufactured in China, so there is no way that this market will not be affected by these tariffs.
The ultimate outcome of these tariffs will be that the products you have come accustomed to buying to support your hobby will become more expensive.
Where the US tariffs will come into play is when the importer (you, the LowproKB American customer) gets charged to import product (shipping items you purchase from LowproKB) by customs agents (either shipping/brokerage companies like UPS and FedEX, or Government Customs Agents) before delivering your order. This does not include the fee which customs brokers will charge to process your order. Currently this fee is different for every broker, but is is in the $10-15 range. Expect this fee to increase when the tariffs are introduced.
Canada, where LowproKB Ltd. operates from, has not changed it tariff strategy with China recently, so importing products from China does not currently cost LowproKB any more than it usually has in the recent past. Where the change is occurring is the rate at which the US is charging to import Chinese goods.
At this time (Aug 7), it appears the general Chinese tariff rate is around 55%. This is a percentage of the order value… so if you ordered $100usd of product, you would be charged around $55usd by customs before you can receive your order.
Currently any international order is protected from tariffs if the value of the order was below $800, which most orders are. This “de-minimus” exemption is slated to be eliminated for September 1st, meaning that every order made by American Customers after this date will be subject to tariffs, regardless of the order value.
This obviously is a big deal, both for you the customer, and LowproKB the business.
LowproKB is doing what it can to provide the best possible parts at the best prices possible, but the decisions of foreign countries and their policy choices are completely out of our control. We regret the situation we are currently in, and wish there was some way we could mitigate the costs of your orders.
We are looking into ways that we can either A) estimate and display the additional fees you will likely face upon receiving your orders, and/or B) charging you the amount directly during checkout to ensure a faster and less painful experience when receiving your order.
The above solutions are tricky as it requires additional costs to implement the calculation of the fees and, because the landscape changes daily, accurately estimating those fees may be error prone.
Rest assured, we are doing what we can to keep LowproKB your trusted keyboard partner, even in these uncertain times.
Sincerely,
Darryl
UPDATE 3 - Aug 20
I have been contacted by several people who know the risks and still want to order stuff. If that sounds like you, hit me up at info@lowprokb.ca and we will make it happen.
UPDATE 2 - Aug 20
I have had to turn off US sales unfortunately. There are too many orders being made by folks who are unaware of the tariff implications. And, due to the fact that I cannot offer a refund if the shipment is refused, there is too much risk of chargebacks to continue. I will update when I have a solution in place to mitigate this risk. Thanks for your understanding. :-(
UPDATE -Aug 20
Do not order if you think you might refuse paying the tariffs upon delivery. I have been asked to pay the tariffs and shipping (marked up 140%) to have the package returned, which I will not do. This means you will loose your total order value.
UPDATE - Aug 19
This week has been crazy so far, and it will have dramatic influence on any US orders to LowproKB.
Many shipments made last week are currently in customs, and I have received a bunch of calls from carriers trying to confirm details of the contents of the orders for customs purposes. In one of these conversations with a broker agent, it came to light that I have been declaring the country of origin incorrectly. Due to the possible penalties in place for mis-declaration, I have adjusted all the country of origin declarations (where required) to correctly state China as the country of origin.
The impact this change has is that all shipments to the USA will be subject to tariffs TODAY, and because the de minimus exemption was removed for Chinese products back in May, all orders, regardless of value, will be evaluated for tariffs right now.
This unfortunate situation will undoubtably affect your decisions to purchase from us and will undoubtably affect the sustainability of LowproKB in general. We regret the position we find ourselves, but there is little LowproKB can do except to attempt to diversify our product line and find new markets to serve.
As always, the support and business from our US customers has been overwhelming, and we thank you for that.
Edit: I have also removed the cheapest UPS standard shipping option. It appears that the brokerage charges applied by UPS on packages shipped with this rate are exponentially higher than similar shipments with more expensive shipping options. Sorry for the confusion.