April 4, 2025
New Tariffs
We’ve all been hearing about the new tariffs. As you know, most electronics are manufactured outside of the US. This is also true of lenses. The vast majority of components we use in the machine vision industry are made in Asia and, to a lesser degree, in Europe.
How will the new tariffs affect your purchases from Machine Vision Store? Though we’ve taken a few actions to mitigate and delay our exposure to the tariffs, the situation is generally beyond our control. One way or another, the cost of purchasing and delivering electronic and optical components will be increasing.
Background
Machine Vision Store commits to transparency in all things we do, including pricing policy. Some readers may be curious about the inner workings of how tariffs get charged and paid. The answer is that it depends on the contract between the US buyer and the foreign manufacturer.
Most contracts rely on terms defined by the International Chamber of Commerce. These are called “Incoterms.” (You can learn about them on Wikipedia.) If the contract specifies, for example, EXW or FCA factory, then the buyer pays all freight and tariffs. On the other hand, if the contract specifies DDP destination, then the shipper pays all freight and tariffs. There are several other variants, but EXW and FCA are the most common terms for small parcels.
Machine Vision Store’s partner manufacturers generally offer EXW or FCA terms. If they have a US warehouse, then we’re paying for freight and insurance, and accepting the risk of loss, from that warehouse to our own. And when the manufacturer is shipping from a factory outside of the US, that means we’re also paying the tariffs.
Tariffs are collected by a customs broker and paid to the US Treasury. The broker ensures compliance with related regulations and processes transaction data on behalf of the responsible party. And of course, the broker charges a fee for their effort.
Until recently, most machine vision components were subject to a US tariff of between 0 and 4 percent, depending on the type of item and the manufacturing origin. There were however exceptions, including a 25% tariff on lenses made in China.
Specifics
What does this mean for you? Effective immediately, we must apply an “Import Fee” on products for which Machine Vision Store has to pay the new tariff. The fee will of course be commensurate with the new tariff rate specific to the manufacturing origin. In some cases, the fee will be a bit less than the new tariff rate because we’re offsetting it by the old tariff rate.
Specifically, the import fee will apply to products made by Leimac, since we receive shipments directly from outside the US and must pay the tariff. We encourage you to contact us prior to placing a new order to determine the fee.
Our other partner manufacturers, for the moment, are absorbing the tariff cost. Even those based in the US must now pay higher tariffs on many component parts. Once the political situation settles down, we expect all manufacturers to post substantial price increases to offset their new costs.
We may change our own policy, without notification, as government regulations continue to evolve. With your interests at heart, our recommendation is to make your purchases today, before prices increase further.
Tags: Tariffs, Leimac