Overseas Record Companies Can Avoid Trump’s Tariffs For Purchases Under $800
A few weeks ago I started to get a trickle of emails from European record companies informing me that they won’t be able to ship CDs and vinyl to the US due to Trump’s tariffs. The price increase was a deal breaker.
Leaving aside the fact that a federal appeals court has ruled that Trump’s tariffs are illegal because Trump’s declaration of a national emergency are not based in reality, record companies have been scrambling to adjust to Trump’s tariffs. Business owners in the US and around the world are now waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on the case. In the meantime, the tariffs are in effect until mid October.
Bandcamp responded to the news by quickly setting up a feature for record companies to choose “Do not ship to the United States” so that customers would be notified during the checkout process.
However, the situation shifted as the White House abruptly reversed course later this summer, allowing shipment of media packages (priced under $800) into the hands of Americans without a tariff attached.
Despite the staff hours spent at small record companies, putting aside all their other pressing business responsibilities in order to wade through the postal regulations and assess the direction of sales to the United States, and the emotional whiplash involved in the potential loss of a major income stream, record companies have a reprieve.
We’ll see what happens next.
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