This article has been updated to provide clarification regarding the tariff breakdown.
In an unsurprising turn of events, the days of truly cheap e-waste appear to be coming to an end. An executive order has been signed that aims to close the de minimis trade exemption. Originally, this was expected to happen back in February but was “paused” in order for proper guidelines and plans to be in place for U.S. Customs.
So what does this mean for you? As I explained earlier this year, if you’re ordering devices or products that total $800 or more, then you likely won’t notice anything different. However, when it comes to anything under the $800 threshold, that $20 R36S will now cost closer to $50, before jumping up to $70 after June 1.
That’s because as of May 2, when the new executive order takes effect, those cheaper devices will “now be subject to a duty rate of either 30% of their value or $25 per item, with that rate increasing to $50 per item after June 1.” One thing to note is that when it comes to figuring out whether the applied rate will be a percentage or a dollar amount, the decision comes down to whichever is higher of the two.
Considering the majority of the retro handhelds that we’ve come to love over the years, it looks like a major blow to the community. And it definitely is, seeing as many of those devices come via AliExpress, usually shipped directly from China to our doorstep.
There does seem to be a way to avoid the duty rates that are being tacked on. The executive order specifically states that along with the price threshold, these products must be shipped “through the postal network” in order to be affected. While the solution might seem as simple as switching to DHL or 4PX, the reality is that more often than not, packages still land on your doorstep courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.
This means that while the retailer or OEM won’t have to take on the duty rate, it will fall to the shipping partner. At which point, you’ll probably end up getting a bill for whatever the rate was, along with any other miscellaneous nickle and diming the shipping company might try to tack on. So even if companies like Retroid, Anbernic, and others begin relying on alternative shipping methods, the end result might still be the same.
Even if the financial burden is passed onto the customers, I’m not entirely sure that this marks the end of uber-cheap devices like the R36S or BatleXP G350. If you add the 30% rate to the R36S, it’s still just $26, which is still less than half what you’ll find over at Amazon.
The bigger problem is once you start getting into devices that cost hundreds of dollars. Take the Retroid Pocket Flip 2, for example, which isn’t expected to start shipping until sometime later this month. Without accounting for taxes or accessories, the Snapdragon 865 model is priced at $229.
Factor in the duty rate, and we’re looking at an increase up to either $254 or $297, depending on how the executive order is interpreted. With something like the AYANEO Pocket EVO, retail pricing starts at $459 for the base model. So when everything is said and done, we’re potentailly ending up with a $596 handheld, which I’m sure will turn a lot of people off from even considering the EVO.
Oh, and if you thought this only affected products purchased from AliExpress, Temu, Shein, or other Chinese retailers, think again. Announced just this week, pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 were slated to begin in the U.S. on April 9. However we recently learned that pre-orders have been delayed:
“Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.”
The Switch 2 was announced with a starting price of $449.99 in addition to the Mario Kart World bundle, which comes in at $499. If impacted, things are potentially looking even worse, as Nintendo Life points out that there’s now “a 46% tariff on Vietnam, where the Nintendo Switch 2 console is manufactured, and a 24% tariff on Japan, where Nintendo Switch 2 physical cartridges are manufactured.”
All we can do now is wait and see how everything plays out in the coming months, and just how much the retro handheld market is affected. We suspect that some options will peter out while others stick around and weather the storm.
So, yeah. That being said, you might want to head over and check out our latest roundup of deals. The sooner you order, the better chances you have at getting your new devices before the May 2 cutoff date.
Retro Handheld Deals of the Week
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I’m bummed, I might splurge for that do-it-all snapdragon emu machine… I dunno.
It’s 30% or $25/$50, whichever is *higher*. So that $20 R36S goes to $70, not $26.
Yep. I don’t think the article writer understood this. It’s the end of cheap handhelds in the US, for now at least. I suspect it might actually have at least one good effect, since the cheapest ones (the ones full of 2000 NES ripoffs) will surely disappear for good.
So much winning! đŸ˜‘
I’m horrified that it’s being thrown at every single country we do trade with. And with no new infrastructure to build anything in the US. It will take decades for US manufacturing to catch up to the scale factories overseas we’re doing. If there was any incentive for this to have been good for US manufacturing, it would have been announced early. It would have happened in stages to wane companies off. It would have been done with incentives for companies to move production to the US. But no. It’s instead just a massive 25% tax on all US citizens on almost everything. It’s hard for me not to feel completely doomed here. And it’s not like I was against stuff being made in the US. It just needed time and planning. Two things devoid in this implementation.
If this was made in the US the 39 or 50 dollar device would be well over 100, if not 200. The factories in China are basically neighbors with the suppliers for components, so that cost us massively reduced. Then you have workers and pay, that alone would drive up cost in the multiples. Even if you had a manufacturing plant on shore, you’ll pay tariffs on importing the components. So you get the multiplier with labor AND the tariff increase on parts. That’s not even factoring in the millions to build one of the factories required. You need raw materials, processing, components made from those from ICs to resistors, diodes, transistors, buttons, lcds, etc., manufacturing (and possibly assembly if not handled at the same factory, packaging that would be made at another place with all materials involved. That’s not coming to the US, it’s still cheaper after paying the Trump taxes for the poor to import. Even if most of that did somehow come to the US, a lot of raw materials just don’t exist here… So you’re importing with a tax anyway.
But you probably nodded your head and cheered when the Left constantly stoned in about “taxing corporations”. Both tariffs and taxing corporations lead to higher prices of goods, except with tariffs the prices eventually decline.
This is needed to fix our economy. The status quo was unsustainable.
Hi, you’re incorrect. Statistically, higher taxes do not bear out as reflecting in higher prices. Tariffs are a direct product-based tax easily passed on, while increasing corporate tax rates or closing corporate-abused tax loopholes do not follow suit.
Wow you are thoroughly indoctrinated. Yikes!
Are trump voters/supporters tired of winning yet?
Not at all. đŸ™‚
Fuck off Brandon
Nope. We’re loving the fact that for once we are actually getting what we voted for.
Enjoy poverty Doug, you lot have been doing mental gymnastics since the tariff got announced
Wow… that whole “30% or $25, whichever is higher” thing really is overkill. And I thought import taxes in the UK were annoying. What the US is implementing is straight up ridiculous.
Who knew that voting for a rich guy who is not only clearly for the rich but has said on multiple occasions that he was only for the rich, would result in the poor being screwed over.
Then again, that’s to be expected from a two party system. You literally didn’t have a choice. It was either a rich asshole who’s honest about being a rich asshole, or a rich asshole who is pretending to not be a rich asshole. The latter might be the lesser of two evils, but I can understand wanting something a bit different than the usual flavour.
Still, you guys really need to protest by voting for “none of the above” one of these days. I mean Russians have done it. It hasn’t done anything, but at least they’re trying to change their system. You guys seem strangely eager to perpetuate it for some reason. Weird.
Worry about your own failing government,
subject.
We stopped caring what you people thought back in 1776.
Just buy them from Europe….