I am super exited about my mnt reform next but I am very dobtful that the crowdsupply approach of shipping things from Europe to the US just to send them back. There needs to be an alternative strategy I would even come to Berlin an pick up my device but the current approach makes little sense in the current situation.
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Seconded. Some who joined this forum recently might be interested in a thread a while back to discuss a route to more localised manufacture here.
We share this concern of course. The Reform Next shipments are quite a while in the future and I’m sure the situation will develop significantly until then. We’ll also be in touch with CS/Mouser about this.
Side note about US based MNT assembly: In a different political climate, I’d be totally considering to do some assembly in the US. I even had some discussions about this with Cyber City Circuits back in the day, for example. But the prices for US local manufacturing are really quite high, higher than a 20% tarrif. And you’ll still have to import many of the components.
At this moment, I think it’s best to wait a bit until the dust settles.
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When faced with an inconsistent policy based on publicity stunts, it is wisest.
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I wanted to chime in here… I’m in Vancouver, Canada, and received a package from USA recently (a week or so ago). The value of the item was written as $200 USD (about $279 CAD). Upon arrival of the package, I was hit with a bill of $195 CAD (which converts back to about $139 USD). That basically amounts to paying 170% for the respective item. In the case of the Reform Next, that would be A LOT of money, like prohibitively large amount of money to the extent I’m not sure I’d want to purchase the machine if it was going to cost 70% extra. I really hope a solution can be found before the product ships – can CrowdSupply do a batched shipment to a Canadian distributor, or something like that, for example? 
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What was the customs code of the item / what kind of item was it?
Figured I’d give a data point here. I purchased a Pocket Reform and a few bits and bobs for 1611.00 EUR after shipping and just got a 558.45 USD duty fee to import to the USA.
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It could get worse, the latest news is that chip/semiconductor tariffs could be introduced running from 100% at the low end to 300% at the high end, except for companies planning to build production facilities in the US. I can’t find clarity on what this means: is this just raw components? Do assembled boards count? What about products containing tariffed components, does the whole thing get the full tariff markup? As usual there will be no clarity until the rule is in place.
If things like SBCs, random useful Crowd Supply/Tindie gadgets, and MNT products/upgrade boards get a 300% markup, it will quickly become cheaper to take a short European vacation and bring back souvenirs.
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Did you purchase on CrowdSupply, or on MNT’s store?
I purchased from the MNT store
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I’m very sorry this happend to you. I have a report from a customer about a package that was declared by us as 880 EUR and they are being charged around $257 (+ some smaller UPS brokerage charge), which is not fully explained by the 15% tariffs (it’s more like 25%). I’m trying to put pressure on my contacts at UPS to give us a breakdown of the opaque “Government Charges”, so far they didn’t come up with anything, but I’m not giving up. Does anyone know of a federal govt/customs agency in the US that US citizens could ask for a breakdown of those charges? It is ultra frustrating for us not being able to tell our customers what kind of fees they have to expect now.
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It’s 100% not your fault; only the fault of my disgraceful country.
I would love to know as well.
I purchased some dev boards a couple weeks ago from Hong Kong for 230.29 USD and got hit with a 181.29 USD duty fee from DHL. I tried to appeal with DHL and reached out to the seller. The seller said there was nothing they could do, and DHL said they would get back to me in 5 business days. At the same time, I was only given 5 calendar days after the notice to pay before the package would be returned, and I got the notice on a Wednesday. The seller would not refund and the DHL never got back to me, so I ended up just swallowing the cost.
It really sucks. I think I’m going to have to not buy anything from out of the USA for the foreseeable future, which is a shame because open hardware and used film cameras (my two loves) are much more abundant outside of the USA.
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i have a question and an idea
question: i’m planning to order the rcore rk3588 later this year or early next year, and i was wondering: what is the best way to pay the least tariffs and get the most money back to MNT y’all selves? i’d even pay a hair more (~50-100 bucks USD) by ordering off the MNT shop instead of CS to ensure y’all get the max profit bc y’all deserve it and i love my Pocket Reform to bits
idea: if tariffs change and develop by then, perhaps the Reform Next could be imported as something like “development kit” or “disassembled product” or something if that’s a lower tariff class (i have no idea if those are a real class according to import/export but maybe). it would even save on MNT’s end like with the Pocket Reform being 50 euro cheaper for assembly kit over fully assembled. ik it’s a ways in the future but i wanted to make sure y’all at MNT have this on your radar for a possibility.
My take? With the current… erratic? Yeah, that’s a good word for it, trade behavior of the USGov, having CrowdSupply on board absolutely makes sense for selling things to US denizens.
Small businesses are going under because they ordered goods a month ago, and the tariff rate has changed multiple times before the ordered items arrive. Personally, I can soak up the odd tariff charge here and there (I paid 180% of retail for my keyboard.io keyboard I bought a couple months ago, because it arrived the week tariffs were highest), but most small businesses wouldn’t be able to handle that uncertainty.
Having an intermediary like Crowd Supply can help. I don’t know that it’s a full solution, and even a logistics expert I know (he ships big tools, like lathes for turning the main prop shaft on a container ship) has basically thrown up his hands. He’s pretty sure he can get things from the USA to elsewhere in the world, but Trump’s first round of tariffs basically stopped all ship traffic from China for 3 weeks. Which means there’s backups in the ports, containers sitting full with no ship to take them the other direction, etc.
I think it’s going to be a long time before international trade smooths out again.
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Regarding a government agency to ask, I wouldn’t hold my breath. DOGE and the USTreasury have now gone more than 120 days since I filed an FOIA request. They’re required by law to respond (even if it’s only a “we’re working on it”, or “DENIED” response) within 90 days, and the US Government is simply ignoring the law.
I wish I could paint a rosier picture, but unless you’re paying baksheesh to the Trump family somehow, you probably aren’t going to get a straight answer. Sorry.
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erratic and destabilizing imo. but yeah, i get that. CS in the middle does mean things might smooth out at least a little bit, guess i’ll likely order from them. i’d still like to know how i can get the most money to MNT for my order bc i want to
yeah fair. that’s something i had in mind, and i’m ok paying a small tariff if it means MNT gets a bigger kickback. it’s why i asked, purely from the “i wanna throw money at MNT” perspective.
yeah that’s a big yikes. foia requests getting backed up is really bad.
yeah, ik things are rough, it’s part of why i’m hoping someone at MNT can be like “oh it doesn’t matter, do whatever’s best for you, the difference is marginal” or like “oh yeah, if you’re willing to deal with tariffs and order off the MNT shop, we get a far larger kickback”. i’m just wondering if there’s a way i can order that largely benefits MNT over other(s).
thanks for the input
Good news: under the latest agreement semiconductor tariffs for the EU won’t exceed 15%. Looks like the 100+% figure is aimed at Asian manufacturers to compel investment in US onshoring. Still an obnoxious added cost, of course, and it could change at any time.
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well that gives me hope.
We just brought RCORE/RK3588 to Crowd Supply and in general we work since a long time with Crowd Supply not only for the funding of new products but also because their connection to Mouser’s logistics and the advantage of having our products stocked in the US as well as in the EU, this partnership pays off again now because US customers will have better control/transparency regarding customs when ordering from them. I absolutely encourage you to order from Crowd Supply, even if our margin is lower, we also gain a lot from this partnership and it’s always good to support it.
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UPDATE: DHL got back to me. They essentially require you to know all of the HTS codes, and to document everything. On top of that, once you’ve already paid, your appeal is with US Customs, and DHL will file that for $90 per entry. It’s unclear if that means per item or per shipment. Suffice to say, I will not be going through this process.