Category Archives: duties

The Challenges of Shipping From China – Life of a Flailing Tube Man

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Last summer was an exercise in developing a completely different kind of product from my normal wheelhouse; a costume. My Halloween costume had been so popular that I decided to have a go at commercializing it, and that took me on a path into manufacturing that I hadn’t yet taken; shipping by boat from China. The short version is it’s a ridiculously difficult mess.

The costume is called the Wacky Dancer, and you can visit the website or find it on Amazon. It’s awesome and we did a good job making it. That’s the pitch. The rest of the article …read more

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Tariff Expansion Set to Hit 3D-Printing Right in the Filament

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Mere weeks after tariffs were put into place raising the cost of many Chinese-sourced electronics components by 25%, a second round of tariffs is scheduled to begin that will deal yet another blow to hackers. And this time it hits right at the heart of our community: 3D-printing.

A quick scan down the final tariff list posted by the Office of the US Trade Representative doesn’t reveal an obvious cause for concern. In among the hundreds of specific items listed one will not spot “Filaments for additive manufacturing” or anything else that suggests that 3D-printing supplies are being targeted. But …read more

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