Hello again! First off, all of the items for this project are in production and should arrive before May 2nd, so this means there won't be any hold-ups with the timeline on this project.

I do want to spread the news on what's going on though, since this is going to effect all of us here in the US, and this is going to poison things for those of you outside of the US as well...

The other day the Trump administration announced tariffs on just about every country. This means that every item imported into the US will now have an increased tax that must be paid.

Specifically on how this will effect many small artists...

Previously, any packages from China (where most of us get our pins) valued under $800 were cleared and able to be received without tax. It's called de minimis exemption and it was implemented because it costs more to have customs officers deal with all the paperwork for every package under $800 than it does to just pass them through tax-free.

This $800 tax-free exemption is being removed on May 2nd

After may 2nd, EVERY package under $800 will be charged $25 or 30% tax (as stated on the official white house website, but the actual tax is 54% since it's stacking with previous tariffs). After June 1st the minimum increases to $50.

So if any of you are buying from aliexpress etc., every package will cost $25~$50 to receive.

Relevant info from the White House website:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-closes-de-minimis-exemptions-to-combat-chinas-role-in-americas-synthetic-opioid-crisis/

Obviously this is poorly written... it mentions "duty rate of either 30% of their value or $25 per item"
I'm *assuming* what it wants to say is it's $25, or 30%, whichever is the higher amount.
"Item" is also vague. I'm assuming this means per package. But given how stupid and shortsighted everything is, this may literally be per declared item? In which case... $25 per each pin? It sounds absolutely ridiculous and I would love to say I'm being stupid to even consider it, but that is a very real possibility if the goal here is to make importing totally nonviable.


As to the "why" this is happening... the "on paper" answer is that it will encourage US manufacturing. The problem with that is obviously it takes years to set up new factories, many materials etc. need to be imported anyway since they don't exist within the US, and who is going to make a factory in such volatile times??

For us small artists in the US making pins, we're extra screwed because there are 0 factories in the US that have the ability to manufacture enamel pins because of fears against money counterfeiting.

So... if you've backed any other Pintopia projects and they aren't able to receive their pins before May 2nd.... I don't know how that will turn out....

Fingers crossed this is another dumb art of the deal~ thing and gets reversed immediately. But even if it's reduced to something more "reasonable" like 30% it's still going to be devastating, especially especially especially with the $800 exemption removed. That is the killer.

The $800 exemption removal is being tested out with China first and will soon extend to imports from every single other country (except Russia and North Korea. hmm.)

If you want to do something about this, here's a website to guide you through calling your state representatives
https://5calls.org/issue/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico/

I'm... not optimistic this will do much. But we've got to try right? Especially if you live in a red state, please kick up a fuss! SO many small businesses rely on imports from China. These taxes will be passed onto the customer, and I think most of us aren't really doing too well financially to be able to deal with the increases simply on everyday items, nevermind fun stuff. It's gonna be struggle bug hours real soon.

I think my biggest hope right now is that evil mega corps will throw a fit about this. Which isn't a very comforting entity to put my faith in.


tl;dr everything is terrible, Pintopia is in shambles, this project is ok but good luck everyone else ;v;