USA Tariffs - 2025
12 September 2025
The short story...
We can ship to the USA again!
It took us a minute to test our shipping partners, US Customs and the new US import tariff taxes after the removal of the De Minimis program. As a reminder all goods you buy that enter the USA are now taxable by the US Customs Department.
So far we've had great results from Royal Mail (our equivalent of the US Postal Service) and we have reinstated Royal Mail as a shipping option for most items on the TPS Store. (For guitar pedals we will have to wait on results and costs from our courier partners UPS/Fedex which will take a little longer.)
To make it easy to shop at That Pedal Show Store, we want to be able to ship with all your import taxes pre-paid to ensure parcels arrive at your door without any extra fees payable.
So, to cover your import tax, we have increased our product prices to include this.
As an example, if a t-shirt sells for £25, US Customs adds a 50% tariff tax on top because the t-shirt was originally made in India. This means you are liable for an extra duty payment of £12.50 on top of the cost of the t-shirt.
So you don't have to pay the additional duty plus US customs admin fees to receive your parcel, we have included the duty in the price of the t-shirt and we'll pay your duty fees for you.
A few examples of tariffs for you...
T-SHIRTS - our tees are made in India and Bangladesh, then we get them printed locally here in the UK. This means they are liable for the following additional duties: India 50% and Bangladesh 25% as these countries are regarded as the 'country of origin'.
OVERSHIRTS - made in Bangladesh and embroidered here in the UK - 25% duty.
GUITAR STRAPS / MUGS - all made in the UK - 10% duty.
The slightly longer story...
What is De Minimis?
For many years there was a 'de minimis' program in place for low-value goods arriving in the USA.
This allowed goods valued at less than US$800 per person, per day, to enter the US duty free.
What changed?
On 29th August 2025, the De Minimis threshold was removed. This means that all goods entering the USA are taxable by the US Customs Department.
There are new US tariffs for every country in the world, so if you're based in the USA, everything you buy from outside the USA will be subject to additional duties and taxes.
Duties MUST be paid to US Customs BEFORE the goods enter the USA (excludes items over $2500 which are subject to other fees).
We have been told that US Authorities will not accept any parcels without duties having been pre-paid. Although this may change.
How do the new duties/taxes work?
As all duties and taxes must be paid in advance, we will have to pay all the fees on your behalf.
Parcels will get processed and delivered to you using the DDP (Delivery Duty Paid) method with all duties paid in advance by us, so your parcel should arrive at your door without any extra fees to pay locally.
However, all these extra duty/tariff costs for US shipments will unfortunately result in higher prices in our store for US customers as these have to be added to the cost of the merchandise we sell.
Duty will be calculated based on the cost of the goods, the shipping costs, any insurance costs, plus extra tariffs are payable on each item in the parcel - this will be calculated based on the 'country of origin' of each item.
In addition, shipping via couriers like Fedex and UPS charge additional 'disbursement fees' for managing duty payments to US Customs on our behalf.
Our mission, as always, is to find the best and most cost effective way to get parcels to our customers.
How can I support TPS if I can't buy merch?
We have created a new way to help support That Pedal Show on the TPS Store.
It's super-simple, instead of spending £20 on a t-shirt, you can easily donate on a one-off basis.
Go HERE to find out more.