Chineese Tarrifs May cause Price Increases in 2020

[Starfighter Ace]

I received notice this morning from Hornby USA that there may be anywhere from a 10% to 20% tariff added to the price of our hobby if these tariffs go into effect next month. This will effect every slot car manufacture that has it's products made in China. I'm sure Mr Kennedy will address how this will impact Scalectric/Slot.it/Policar if this actually goes into effect.

Let's hope our fearless leaders and Congress critters resolve this before the tariffs hit. If not, you now have a heads up.

Mark T.

[crossovercrazy]

How does this apply? I am not an expert on the tariffs, but I am not aware that the U.S. has tariffs against the UK. I don't think the UK does against the Chinese who supply their services to them. We buy the cars from the UK, who just use China as their supplier. Unless there is something I don't understand, I don't see how this applies, unlike products the U.S. buys directly from China. If my suspicions are warranted, I wonder if this is just an excuse to raise prices (I hope that is not the rationale).

[Starfighter Ace]

The best way I can answer this is for you to look at the bottom of your slot car. If it says" Made in China" , you have your answer. Tariffs are applied to the country of manufacture, not where the company is headquartered. As to your very valid point as this being an excuse to raise prices, could be....

Mark T

[Dave Kennedy]

Tariffs are based on country of manufacture it is not based on where the company is located/headquartered.

This is a direct result of the tariff war being waged by the President at the moment. We make products in many countries not just China. India and Vietnam as well.
Scalextric's high detail cars and Super Resistant cars are made in China. We make NO cars in the UK, so no one is "buying cars from the UK"... they are produced and shipped from China. None of our slot cars come from the UK.

Our Start cars are made in Vietnam (all of this is shown on the packaging BTW as it required by law).

Tariffs are paid upon importation into the US... they are paid at the port HERE by the company importing them. There's no such thing as paying a tariff in China... China is NOT being charged Tariffs on goods made in their country (that's not a thing)... that is a LIE being told. Tariffs are NOT "applied to the country" they are taxed HERE in the US in the port.

All goods that are made in China that are covered by whatever the latest tariff war pawn category WILL be charged as much as a 25% higher price. This time around it's toys...

Separate from that there is the Brexit issue which means that goods imported from England MAY go up in cost. NO ONE knows what those costs might yet be... NO ONE. I've talked with some English slot car dealers recently and they're almost in a panic because they have NO guidance from their own government about what taxes they might have to charge to export and/or taxes they will have to collect when they sell into the EU. There's widespread confusion on this topic and there's no one I have talked with that has a firm grip on exactly what might happen.
For our part very little comes from the UK directly. The only slot cars we might ever bring to the US via England would be cars that are leftover stock of US types of cars that are already sold out here that we think we could still sell here.
For example we brought over some more Javelins from England and Spain's inventory shortly after I was hired in 2018. But we haven't brought any slots from the European warehouse (which is in Hersden, England).
However some of our other brands we do make in England, Humbrol paint for example is made there. We do bring in Airfix (which is made in India) sometimes is consolidated and shipped from England then to us here...

[Dave Kennedy]

So to be clear... any brand slot car made in China will be subject to this new tariff that might take effect.

[WB2]

This has been an on-and-off threat to the model railroad hobby. Some companies had announced price increase only to rescind them when the threatened tariffs were “removed” (i.e. not instituted). It appears the threat of implementation at a later date is still there.
Sadly, the guy instrumental in the tariff war still thinks the US citizen isn’t paying the tariff.

[Dave Kennedy]

And to be clear, if there will be no tariffs implemented, there will be no price increase like we're talking about here.

[crossovercrazy]

Bummer. Thanks for the explanation. I get the "we pay tarifs at the US port, and not in China" thing, but I would have logically assumed that China would have been the supplier to the UK company, who then sells their own designed product (albeit with subcontracted assembly in China or elsewhere) under their banner to the US or elsewhere. That's what I get for trying to apply logic. I guess direct shipments from China to the US maybe also weaken that logic as well. I can also see that the EU/Brexit affair is a whole other kettle of fish.

Maybe if UK workers would merely snap in the extra guide flags in the bottom of the Scalextric cases upon receipt of the "unfinished" product from China, we could get around this - if I keep thinking like this, I could get a political-appointee job...

[mattb]

We all understand this whole tariff deal is just for publicity and it is just us the consumers that will pay for it. The Chinese probably laugh at all the silly publicity about US citizens not being the ones paying it.

I think the question is if the cars are bought by one of us from a dealer in the UK, who doesn't pay the tariff to get the cars to his shop in the UK. If he sends from the UK to America then the tariff is charged in this sale?

How do the" tariff nazis" know what is in the box he sends me, except it is labeled "slot cars". Does he now have to put a country of manufacture on the box? I can see where buying straight from a dealer in another country can circumvent the whole tariff deal. What about that Dave? Do the nazis have to look at every package coming in and see if a tariff is owed?

What if a friend in England buys cars for me and then sends them to me?

Looks like there is a work around and the extra postage is probably less than the tariffs.

Might be another nice cushy job to join the tariff police and inspect slot cars that come to the US.

[Dave Kennedy]

Bummer. Thanks for the explanation. I get the "we pay tarifs at the US port, and not in China" thing, but I would have logically assumed that China would have been the supplier to the UK company, who then sells their own designed product (albeit with subcontracted assembly in China or elsewhere) under their banner to the US or elsewhere. That's what I get for trying to apply logic. I guess direct shipments from China to the US maybe also weaken that logic as well. I can also see that the EU/Brexit affair is a whole other kettle of fish.

Maybe if UK workers would merely snap in the extra guide flags in the bottom of the Scalextric cases upon receipt of the "unfinished" product from China, we could get around this - if I keep thinking like this, I could get a political-appointee job...

Trust me it's not as simple as adding one part and it's "made in (not china)"... if it were... everyone would do it. In fact I do think many of the slot companies do assemble outside of China and claim made in (not china).

[Dave Kennedy]

We all understand this whole tariff deal is just for publicity and it is just us the consumers that will pay for it. The Chinese probably laugh at all the silly publicity about US citizens not being the ones paying it.

I think the question is if the cars are bought by one of us from a dealer in the UK, who doesn't pay the tariff to get the cars to his shop in the UK. If he sends from the UK to America then the tariff is charged in this sale?

How do the" tariff nazis" know what is in the box he sends me, except it is labeled "slot cars". Does he now have to put a country of manufacture on the box? I can see where buying straight from a dealer in another country can circumvent the whole tariff deal. What about that Dave? Do the nazis have to look at every package coming in and see if a tariff is owed?

What if a friend in England buys cars for me and then sends them to me?

Looks like there is a work around and the extra postage is probably less than the tariffs.

Might be another nice cushy job to join the tariff police and inspect slot cars that come to the US.

But, do "we"? I don't think most of the US doesn't get it whatsoever frankly.. which annoys me beyond belief.

A work around "might" work for a car or two, but if you're talking cars by the container (ie THOUSANDS OF CARS, like we bring in at once) might work onesey-twosey, but by the pound it will NOT slip by.

Yes, technically the customs forms do ask "country of manufacture" and yes I believe it could be charged tariff. If they open the box to check and yes it does happen a lot, if there's the omission of "where was it made" and there's a clear lie on the customs for whatever "it" is WILL be destroyed.

Years ago, an importer i know brought in some cars... ok... several thousand cars. And on the forms there was an error saying that the cars were made in "Europe"... well "Europe" isn't a country, it's a continent. And that "made in Europe" wasn't good enough for the customs officials so that importer and their elderly parents sat in a customs warehouse under the supervisor of customs officials and put stickers of "made in (wherever it was, frankly I forget)" on the bottom of each and EVERY car!!! Every, single.. one. Each car was taken off the base, stickered, and put back on the base.
I. Am. Not. Kidding.
So if you think any of this tariff or Brexit business makes and logical sense, trust me... it does not. All I do know is that every "work around", every "can we do this" to get around a tariff has been tried and you do so at your own peril.
Because what happens when you do something and cannot fix it to the Customs Officials liking? Your slot cars are crushed. Again... I'm not kidding. I have heard MANY stories from small companies of this happening over the more-than-a-decade or so I've been doing this for a job.

Moral of this story? A TARIFF WAR IS EASY TO WIN? YOU'RE WRONG!!!!!!!!!

[crossovercrazy]

Could the Scalextric reps take a pay cut to offset the tariff increase? Just trying to brainstorm.

[slothead]

This all sounds similar to what applies to blockades and sanctions. For decades it's been illegal to do business with Cuba. So seemingly all one would have to do is start a shame company in say Mexico, have it buy those excellent Cuban cigars, and then sell them to US customers. If you and I can think of that work around so can the folks charged with enforcing tariffs and sanctions. And since I have no desire to share a cell with a guy named Bubba for the next 20 years I'll pass.

If the tariffs are implemented we'll pay the increase and enjoy our toys while waiting for this nonsense to end.

Other than realistic replicas of great cars i prefer my slot car hobby NOT to have anything to do with reality.

[bobbyraz49]

Bummer. Thanks for the explanation. I get the "we pay tarifs at the US port, and not in China" thing, but I would have logically assumed that China would have been the supplier to the UK company, who then sells their own designed product (albeit with subcontracted assembly in China or elsewhere) under their banner to the US or elsewhere. That's what I get for trying to apply logic. I guess direct shipments from China to the US maybe also weaken that logic as well. I can also see that the EU/Brexit affair is a whole other kettle of fish.

Maybe if UK workers would merely snap in the extra guide flags in the bottom of the Scalextric cases upon receipt of the "unfinished" product from China, we could get around this - if I keep thinking like this, I could get a political-appointee job...

Imagine the added cost of shipping from China to the U.K........"UK workers would merely snap in the extra guide flags in the bottom of the Scalextric cases upon receipt of the "unfinished" product from China"

[viejoronnie]

In the past have imported electric bicycles directly from China.

As a result of the tariff war, bicycle mamufacture has begun to switch to other countries in southeast Asia where there are no tariffs AND labor costs are less than China.

Perhaps that will happen with slot cars.