U.S. Tariffs and Country of Origin
Everyone might be a little sick of hearing the word “tariffs” by now, but with everything happening recently we thought it would make sense to try and summarise the situation for people so it is easier to understand what is changing and how it will impact us. With these changes, we have also gone over the country of origin rules to clear up confusion where possible.
So, let's all sit down and go through this stuff together!
Part 1 – FAQ
What is a Tariff?
A tariff is when an additional fee is charged on importing a product into your country. It is usually determined by a combination of what the product is and where it comes from.
Tariffs are a common tool used by countries to either match the price of products made in different countries to a similar cost of items made locally, to encourage sales of goods made in your country, or as a way to discourage people from buying goods from a particular country (for example, to protest against another country's lack of worker's rights).
Who pays the Tariff?
You. There are 2 different scenarios to look at, the first is if you buy directly from a company in a different country, like us, then when your parcel reaches your country it may have shipping fees to be paid. As described in a previous blog post, part of these fees will be the Import Duty, which is the tariff.
The other scenario is if a business in your country buys the items instead, they will have a similar process of importing it as you will, but they will then factor any shipping and import costs into the final price of the item, so you will pay that cost when you buy from them.
Who gets the money?
Your countries' government gets these fees, hence they are sometimes referred to as “governmental fees” by shipping companies. The shipping company or broker will charge a fee for their time to process the tariff, but the company you brought from does not see any of the money that you have paid to import the item.
Why are people talking about tariffs now?
Donald Trump, the current president of the United States, has decided to add tariffs for American citizens, so it will cost them more to buy items made outside of America. This is not usually a controversial move, but the main issue here is how suddenly everyone has had to get used to this change and how often the details are changing with little notice.
How does this impact kigs?
For American kigs, there are not many local mask makers and no suit makers that we know of, so American kigs usually buy their stuff from makers outside of their country. Now when they do so, it will cost them more money to receive what they have ordered, depending on where that maker is based.
How much are the US tariffs?
This question is not as simple as others to answer, President Trump did announce what the tariffs would be but has since decided that there will be an initial 90 day period where they are on a temporary rate, to give time for any discussions or trade agreements to happen before the announced rate comes into effect.
Here is a list of different tariff rates for countries that we feel will be important for people looking to buy stuff to kig.
| Country | 90-day Rate | Proposed Long Term Rate |
|---|---|---|
| UK | 10% | 10% |
| China | N/A | 145% |
| Japan | 10% | 24% |
| Taiwan | 10% | 32% |
| Australia | 10% | 10% |
Wait, is that a typo in the table for China?!?
No! President Trump has imposed a very high tariff rate on all goods made in China and is not giving them the same 90 day period for discussions. This should concern the kig community a lot as there are a lot of Chinese-based mask makers and most of the skinsuit options available are manufactured in China, so this could make it much more expensive for people to get into kig.
Wait, I thought Australia has a Free Trade Agreement with America?
Yes, they do along with South Korea. Despite this, President Trump still wants to impose a general tariff on all goods from these countries regardless of the free trade agreement that they have in place, which is essentially a promise to not impose any tariffs.
What is Country of Origin?
When you ship an item you need to provide the country of origin, this is used along with the HS (Harmonized System) Code to calculate any fees that are due. The idea of this is to ensure that you cannot get around any tariffs by routing your shipment through another country with lower or zero tariffs to avoid paying fees.
How is the Country of Origin Determined?
In response to these sudden tariffs, we have spent some time researching Country of Origin rules, there are 3 main factors used to determine what country should be used:
1. Source of Materials and Labour
If the item is made entirely in 1 country with materials that originated from that country, then that country is used as the country of origin.
For example, if cotton is picked and turned into a roll of fabric all within the same country, then that country will be used.
2. Transformative Work
If any work is done that transforms what the item is from one item to another, then the country that the work is performed in is used. This is usually determined by the HS (Harmonized System) Code which is used to categorise what it is, if it changes from one code to another then that work is transformative.
For example, that roll of cotton fabric is now shipped to a new country where it is used to make a t-shirt, and t-shirts have a different HS code to a roll of fabric so the country where the shirt was made is used as the country or origin.
3. Value Added Work
Lastly, if any work is done which adds value to the item, then the country of origin can be updated to the country where that work was performed.
For example, the t-shirt was sent to another country where they print on a branded design, greatly increasing the value of the clothing, then the country where this work was done is used for the country of origin.
Part 2 - Country of Origin for DAME Products
So, a lot of talking and explaining later, hopefully everyone now understands what tariffs are and why this is important.
As DAME, we have reviewed all of the products that we sell to see if, based on the rules above, we are allowed to recategorize any of them as coming from the UK. We will ensure that we are careful with any new products that we add to change the country of origin to the UK as much as possible where we believe it is legally possible.
Masks
All masks, backplates, shells, eyes and wigs have always had a country of origin of the UK, this is because despite using raw materials that may come from around the world, we are transforming them into a kig mask in the UK.
Was UK, is still UK
Padding Sets
When a padding set was bought without a mask, we have previously set China as the country of origin, but now we will be using the UK instead. This is because despite most of the contents being brought from China, we assemble the padding sets in the UK and cut up the Velcro as part of them by hand.
Was China, is now UK
Skinsuits
Both MWF and Cantillon make their skinsuits, hoods and gloves in China so we have been using this as the country of origin so far, but upon reviewing these rules we are now going to be changing the country of origin to the UK.
This is because as a company we do add value to the skinsuits that we sell, when you place your order we will personally review the measurements you provide and contact you with any issues that we find and talk through them with you to help fix any issues.
Once your skinsuit has been made, we check every item to ensure that they are the correct colour and have the correct options, as well as check to ensure all zips move smoothly and there are no problems with any of the external seams. If the colour or options are wrong, we will contact you to check if you are ok with the product as-is, and if not we will ensure that the suit is replaced. Any issues with the zips or the seams we will look at fixing ourselves or within the UK before we send the suit out to you.
As a company, we feel that the personalised service and these quality checks are adding value to the skinsuits, greatly reducing the number of problems customers will experience and trying to ensure that people’s custom made skinsuits give them as few issues as possible.
Was China, is now UK
Breast Forms
Even though we buy both Forever Young and Ivita breast forms from UK suppliers, they are both made in China so we have used China as the country of origin. Under these rules we are happy that we can change it to the UK because we do add value to them. We include a pack which contains Velcro disks, bags and instructions on how to add them to your breast forms if this is something that you wish to do.
Was China, is now UK
Fabric Samples
Much like the skinsuits, the fabric used to make them comes from China. We have determined that the amount of work that we perform to be able to offer them as labelled samples to people is enough for us to change their country of origin to the UK.
Was China, is now UK
Custom Made Hip Pads
These are made in the UK by Alpeia - Crafting & Design, so the country of origin will remain as the UK.
Was UK, is still UK
Extras
Unlike other items we sell, we do not feel that we can change the country of origin to the UK for Washbags, Wig Brushes or pre-made Hip Pads and Butt Pads. All of these items we buy from China and ship directly to customers without changing them, so their country of origin will remain as China.
Was China, is still China
Conclusion
Hopefully, this post helps you understand the current situation regarding tariffs, purchases made outside of the U.S., and the changes that we at DAME are making. If you have further questions about your current or outstanding order with us, please get in touch through our contact form or social media.