Tariffs: 'De Minimis' Exemption Ended, Affects Individual Game Orders Entering US

Things have been relatively quiet on the tariff front recently, but the US has just announced a big change--it is ending the 'de minimis' exemption on low-cost shipments entering the country.

Up until now, a shipment worth $800 or less has been exempt from the global tariff situation due to the longstanding 'de minimis' exception. Most countries have a de minimis exemption, meaning that individuals can easily purchase items from abroad. This meant that before this change, an individual order of a product entering the US would not be affected by tariffs--the costs would be incurred only on larger shipments, such as those from game publishers importing stock into the country. Before today you could order a $60 game (or, indeed, a $700 game) from anywhere in the world, and it would incur no tariffs.

From August 29th, the de minimis exemption will end for all packages. This means that any tariffs which previously applied only to shipments of $800 or over will now apply even to that $7 t-shirt you bought from overseas.

The move is designed to hurt large online retailers, often in China, which ship cheap goods globally.

So, how will it affect the tabletop gaming industry?

• If you are in the US, and buying a game from outside your country, that game will now be subjected to the tariffs no matter how much it costs.
• If the publisher you are buying from has a US warehouse or distributor, the situation won't change--they will have paid the tariff when their large shipments (worth far more than $800) arrived at port.
• If you are buying books, as yet there are still no tariffs. The tariffs will kick in on boxed sets, boardgames, and other packages which contain non-book items.

This means that for most mid-to-large publishers, there's no change. They don't tend to fulfil individual orders from overseas; they have stock in the US (and other locations). For many non-US small indie or individual creators, though, who ship individual orders less than $800 to US customers, this will come as a blow--up until now those creator were exempt from the tariffs.

 

[Belen]

And thus began the Era of The One Piece.

I thought is was a Babylon 5 Kosh quote.

 

[Weiley31]

I thought is was a Babylon 5 Kosh quote.

I don't want to get shot by ENworld so I won't explain what the One Piece is.

Also I haven't seen Babylon 5 in FOREEEEVER.

 

[mamba]

Yesterday, they message me saying if I stick with the Express, it's gonna be an additional 30 dollar Tariff on top. If I do economy shipping, it will take 30 days, but no tariffs.

why would the speed of shipping have anything to do with having to pay tariffs?

 

[Weiley31]

why would the speed of shipping have anything to do with having to pay tariffs?

I know, right? Even I'm confused.

 

[Morrus]

why would the speed of shipping have anything to do with having to pay tariffs?

At a guess, perhaps two different shipping methods. A bulk shipment fulfilled from within a distribution hub in the US or a single shipment sent directly to the customer. The latter would attract the $80 minimum tariff while the former would attract the actual tariff which is less than $80 as it was part of a shipment worth more than $800.

Total guess though.

 

[dbolack]

At a guess, perhaps two different shipping methods. A bulk shipment fulfilled from within a distribution hub in the US or a single shipment sent directly to the customer. The latter would attract the $80 minimum tariff while the former would attract the actual tariff which is less than $80 as it was part of a shipment worth more than $800.

That makes sense.

 

[Weiley31]

why would the speed of shipping have anything to do with having to pay tariffs?

At a guess, perhaps two different shipping methods. A bulk shipment fulfilled from within a distribution hub in the US or a single shipment sent directly to the customer. The latter would attract the $80 minimum tariff while the former would attract the actual tariff which is less than $80 as it was part of a shipment worth more than $800.

Total guess though.

They do mention something bout a warehouse. Regardless, they should stand by their guarantee and cover it. Especially since the order was BEFORE any of the major dates they listed. They take a few days to respond back so I guess we'll see.

As I said before, I'm probably not really gonna back any Kickstarter or go for anything fancy on em or with imports now that this is the currently reality of things.

 

[haakon1]

I read the same story today (I saw it in the Seattle Times) about an 80% fall in mail to US.

It mentioned tariffs of 10-50%, but didn’t mention the $80-200 minimum tariff. The latter is super weird.

In other news, an Appeals Court said the President can’t just make up any tariff he likes, but I assume the Supreme Court will allow it.

 

[Weiley31]

In other news, an Appeals Court said the President can’t just make up any tariff he likes, but I assume the Supreme Court will say “l’etat c’est Trump”.

https://www.npr.org/2025/08/29/nx-s1-5522457/tariffs-trump-trade-supreme-court

They are waiting until Mid-October or something before following further, but I expect it to go exactly like this:

Supreme Court: Ya it's Illegal.

Everybody: Okay, and???

Supreme Court: That's it. That's the tweet.


Everybody on Etsy proceeds to die two weeks later.

"C'est la vie" the Supreme Court will say.