The Energon Pub

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Mon Apr 07, 2025 4:52 pm

Dead Metal wrote:
william-james88 wrote:
Glyph wrote:
william-james88 wrote:
ScottyP wrote:
william-james88 wrote:You mention local/states sales tax. Is there a federal sales tax too?
There is not. At least not yet.
Well then that's what this tariff becomes for you guys. Hence why I use the term that it's like VAT or our Canadian GST. A sales tax at the federal level.

No, that's still not it. VAT and other sales taxes are charged on ALL goods, import and domestic alike, paid by the buyer at the point of sale. Tariffs are an extra rate applied only to IMPORTS from a specific country of origin, paid by the importer at the point of entry. Whether it's administered at the state or federal level isn't the point - they're not the same thing at all, and the White House language is deliberately misleading.

(I mean, it'll have the effect of increasing prices on equivalent domestic goods as well, because capitalism, but that's also not the point.)

I know and I get it, I’m just trying to make their comparison work (and failing)

I don't believe that you do get it. You took their propaganda, swallowed it and then repeated it.
You get called out, claim you know and just explained it badly. Just to then go and repeat the lie again, and then use the same excuse when you get called out again.

You should really take a step back, and take a good look at the content you consume, because I was where you are now, the right wing grifters that pretend to be centrist or leftist sceptics are not interested in actual debate and discourse. They only want to push their agenda to sell you outrage and give you an easy bad guy to blame, most of the time that's a minority that's different enough from what we call the norm to be othered.
And note this does not mean that conservatives are "evil", they are just the main target for exploitation.

I altered the front page article to encompass the facts as laid out. If you find it inaccurate or disingenuous in any way, please let me know.

On that note, I do find it disingenuous that the media is still calling the tariffs "reciprocal" due to that being their official terminology from the white house, when it has been said by the same white house that the tariffs are based on trade deficit and not actual tariffs imposed on US goods.

by **Dino-Snarl** » Tue Apr 08, 2025 4:48 pm

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Wed Apr 09, 2025 11:40 am

TFSource will not be honouring their preorder prices:

Dear Valued TFSource Customer,

First, thank you for being a part of the TFSource community. We don’t take your trust for granted — and we always want to be upfront with you, especially when changes are coming that affect your collecting experience.

Recently, the U.S. government announced new tariffs on imported plastic hobby toys, effective April 2 and April 9, 2025. These tariffs are significant, and they affect nearly every product we carry.

This is a fluid, government-driven situation, and like many other companies in our industry, TFSource is having to quickly react and adapt to these changes in real time. We’re hopeful the current administration will reach agreements with the affected countries — which could lead to reduced or even eliminated tariffs in the future. In the meantime, we want to be transparent about how this impacts pricing and availability moving forward.

What’s Happening
The new tariff rates are now being applied and vary depending on the country of origin:
China: 104%
Vietnam: 46%
Japan: 24%

Because so much of the collectible toy world is sourced from these regions, these changes are hitting our entire industry — including TFSource. Nearly all of our items are sourced from these regions. Once items arrive in the U.S., Customs applies these new tariffs, which must be paid before we can receive and ship the goods. This additional cost is substantial, and unfortunately unavoidable, making it extremely difficult for TFSource to absorb the cost fully.

Impact on Pricing
The good news is that all in stock or currently domestic in transit products will not be impacted by current tariffs. Until then TFSource has no choice but to increase prices on many upcoming preorder items, both new and previously announced. This includes existing preorders that have not yet arrived or cleared U.S. Customs. We understand this is disappointing, and we want to be transparent: honoring earlier preorder pricing on many items is no longer feasible, as doing so would result in unsustainable losses for the company.

We know this may be frustrating news, and we didn’t make this decision lightly. We’re doing everything we can to manage the impact, including:
- Absorbing costs wherever possible
- Minimizing increases on in-stock items (while inventory lasts)
- Continuing to offer Free Shipping, Source Points and loyalty rewards through TFSourceVIP

We know this isn’t the kind of update anyone wants to hear, and we understand the frustration. Our goal is always to support our fellow collectors and maintain the quality, service, and selection that brought you to TFSource in the first place - even in challenging times like these.

We’ll continue to keep you informed with any further updates and are working hard to manage these changes with as little disruption to your experience as possible.

We're hopeful that this situation will improve in the coming months. As always, we'll adapt quickly to any positive developments — including potential tariff reductions — and do everything we can to pass those benefits back to our loyal customers.

Thank you for sticking with us through this — and for being part of a community that continues to inspire our team every day.

With appreciation,
The TFSource Team
Your Source for All Things Transformers

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Wed Apr 09, 2025 1:18 pm

Well, I'm glad to be in Canada now.

by **Dino-Snarl** » Wed Apr 09, 2025 2:33 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:Well, I'm glad to be in Canada now.

Indeed, us too. Tariffs were just paused and set to 10% except for China which is 125%, for now. Dow is up 3000 points. It's a rollercoaster.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Wed Apr 09, 2025 4:38 pm

Dino-Snarl wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:Well, I'm glad to be in Canada now.

Indeed, us too. Tariffs were just paused and set to 10% except for China which is 125%, for now. Dow is up 3000 points. It's a rollercoaster.

Trump is a negotiator.
A negotiator who negotiate by swinging a steel chair! :lol:

Countries are caving left and right. So his BRUTAL tactics seems to work.
Let's see how everything will turn out in the long run.
In the meantime... :POPCORN:

BTW, I find it extremely hypocritical when countries like mine, Canada, cry about US tariffs imposed on them, when tariffing everyone else. For ever, whenever I import something that is worth above 100$. The government charge me 15% taxes and an additional 10$ in "administrative fees." And that's bull.

News Credits: 3 · by **DISCHARGE** » Wed Apr 09, 2025 5:22 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:
Dino-Snarl wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:Well, I'm glad to be in Canada now.

Indeed, us too. Tariffs were just paused and set to 10% except for China which is 125%, for now. Dow is up 3000 points. It's a rollercoaster.

Trump is a negotiator.
A negotiator who negotiate by swinging a steel chair!
Countries are caving left and right. So his BRUTAL tactics seems to work.
Let's see how everything will turn out in the long run.
In the meantime...

BTW, I find it extremely hypocritical when countries like mine, Canada, cry about US tariffs imposed on them, when tariffing everyone else. For ever, whenever I import something that is worth above 100$. The government charge me 15% taxes and an additional 10$ in "administrative fees." And that's bull.

More so it was tanking U.S stock markets and weakening the dollar.
Prices had dipped so low allowing purchase of high dollar stocks at low prices to possibly double creating huge wealth for those who bought in when the rebound occurs.
It's government manipulation of global stocks and uber corrupt.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Wed Apr 09, 2025 8:03 pm

DISCHARGE wrote:It's government manipulation of global stocks and uber corrupt.

Expect nothing less from a guy that sells his merch from the Oval Office and does a Tesla commercial from the White House lawn.

The markets are currently at the whim of a petulant child. There's absolutely no rhyme or rhythm to what he does and no predicting what he'll do tomorrow (or in a 3 AM tweet).

Emerje

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Wed Apr 09, 2025 8:05 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:
BTW, I find it extremely hypocritical when countries like mine, Canada, cry about US tariffs imposed on them, when tariffing everyone else. For ever, whenever I import something that is worth above 100$. The government charge me 15% taxes and an additional 10$ in "administrative fees." And that's bull.

As Emerge confirmed earlier in this thread, the US does the same and has been doing the same for years. The only difference is that they dont withold the item until you pay them. They give you the imported item and you have to pay that tax when you do your income tax. Our sales tax is not a tariff, I wouldn’t conflate the two (that 10$ admin fee sucks though, no denying that)

What Trump is suggesting is that Americans keep being taxed on imports as they already are and also have an additional tariff fee on top of it.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Wed Apr 09, 2025 8:09 pm

william-james88 wrote:What Trump is suggesting is that Americans keep being taxed on imports as they already are and also have an additional tariff fee on top of it.

This this means that Americans will have a taste of that "administrative fee."
Or worse.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Wed Apr 09, 2025 9:07 pm

BBTS statement:

Hi Everyone,

I’m writing to share with you how we are working to handle the rapidly escalating tariff situation. I want to be transparent and honest with you about the impacts of these tariffs. This is a complex situation so I apologize upfront for the length of my note, but I feel it is important to be as clear as possible in this difficult time.

Tariffs – What Just Happened
For 25 years, we have operated as a family-owned business under a 0% tariff rate. Several months ago a 10% tariff was enacted for goods made in China. It was then doubled to 20%. In April a 34% tariff was added to the total, bringing us to 54%. Last night another 50% was added, and today (April 9th) an additional 21% was added, bringing us to 125% total tariffs on Chinese goods. Vietnam was to be subject to a 46% tariff, but it appears that this has been reduced to 10% for the next 90 days. These two countries manufacture 90% of the goods that we sell.

What is the Impact
This unfortunately is going to result in retail price increases on products impacted by the tariffs, including new and open pre-orders. We are working hard to minimize these increases through discussions with our vendors, deploying the most efficient importing processes, and ultimately sharing directly in the financial pain. I’m heartbroken to have to do this, and I hate this tariff situation: it is ridiculous, poorly thought out, poorly implemented, cruel and punishing to everyone involved in affected countries and at every level of our industry.

Who Pays Tariffs
Tariffs are a tax on the US consumer. Foreign governments do NOT pay these tariffs. The US based companies who import these goods are directly responsible for paying the tariffs. And ultimately, the US based consumer pays for them through higher product prices. We are devastated that it has come to this, and we will continue to work hard to minimize the impact to you.

When and How will Prices Change
In the past month we have raised prices in a manner that was inclusive of expected tariffs, while also honoring previously pre-ordered prices. Unfortunately, the dramatic increases in tariff levels has now made this approach impossible.

To minimize confusion during this rapidly changing situation, we will be changing newly affected pre-order product listings to reflect our normal, non-tariff-based price. We will also add a notice indicating that a tariff surcharge will be added at the time of the product’s arrival. We will inform you of the full amount before your payment method is charged. You will also be able to cancel your pre-order at that time if the surcharge amount is something you do not wish to pay. Our customer service team, as always, will be ready to help with any issues that arise from this situation, and we will be very flexible given the circumstances. Today, we expect the surcharge may be between 15% to 40% of the pre-order price, however that could change as the situation continues to unfold. Please note that any items currently In Stock are not subject to the tariff.

We are working as fast as we can to make these changes clear on our site, but it will take us time. We have over 10,000 items listed for pre-order currently, and it is going to take us time to work through how each vendor will respond to their specific tariff situation. Our supply chain is complex and we have hundreds of vendors. The timing of when a particular tariff is applied will depend on a variety of factors including import shipping dates and any new rules set by the government.

Finally
I absolutely hate increasing prices to you, but the tariff situation is beyond our control. If tariffs are reduced or removed, we will reduce or remove the tariff surcharges on orders accordingly. My pledge to you is that we will be fair, and we will share the pain of this. I assure you we are already feeling significant economic and business disruption pain from these tariffs. We will continue to work hard to serve you with the quality and customer service level you expect as we navigate through this difficult time.

I want to thank you deeply for all the trust and loyalty that you have placed in BBTS with your collecting passion. Whether you have recently joined our family or have been with us for years, we truly value our relationship with you and will do our best to continue to earn your trust every day.

Sincerely,
Joel Boblit
Founder and President

TLDR: They'll be adding tariff charges at the time of arrival and will inform us ahead of time what the final price will be before being charged.

Emerje

News Credits: 33 · by **Glyph** » Thu Apr 10, 2025 6:57 am

-Kanrabat- wrote:Trump is a negotiator.
A negotiator who negotiate by swinging a steel chair!
Countries are caving left and right. So his BRUTAL tactics seems to work.
Let's see how everything will turn out in the long run.
In the meantime...

If you actually believe any of this, I have a great timeshare opportunity for you on a beachfront property in Arizona.

Dino-Snarl wrote:Tariffs were just paused and set to 10% except for China which is 125%, for now. Dow is up 3000 points. It's a rollercoaster.

Also, not paused - set to an already-unprecedented flat 10% for all countries for 90 days or until the next tweet, whichever comes sooner. The latest press framing is to say the tariffs were "paused", suggesting that nothing changed from how it was before last week - once again, simply not true.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Thu Apr 10, 2025 11:18 am

Anyone else notice stores are being extra cautious with importing Japanese figures? Despite what BBTS said about adding tariffs at the time of arrival they aren't taking orders on a lot of stuff they normally do. For example there's a lot of S.H.Figuarts that have gone up for pre-order in Japan, normally BBTS and others will start taking orders the next day and yet I'm seeing nothing. Even the official store is lagging way behind on S.H.F stuff. Thanks to the tariffs and the higher shipping rates I'm trying to buy more domestically. I'd already started buying some larger (not necessarily expensive, just big boxes) domestically to save on shipping, but I haven't really been seeing them show up as much. The Crunchyroll Store has been a ghost town for the last couple months. I was ordering so much stuff from them using my streaming subscription discount and it's been a while since they've had much of anything worthwhile listed.

One of my bigger issues with what's going on is that part of the reason why we had that $800 exemption was to give people more options to save money that we'd be able to spend locally. But now that we're spending so much extra on this we're being forced to sacrifice instead. Talk about bass ackward.

Emerje

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Thu Apr 10, 2025 4:58 pm

Dino-Snarl wrote:
Screenshot_20250408_174431_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot_20250408_174450_Chrome.jpg

I don't know if others see it that way, but looking at those numbers, it seems China has a major advantage over the US. They are far less dependent on them, and their biggest import (soybeans) can be sourced from south america. The US on the other hand doesn't seem to import as much raw material from China which can be sourced elsewhere, it's all finished products and a ton of it. So of the two countries, it's the US consumers who would feel the impact of higher prices more. Just what I'm thinking looking at those numbers.

News Credits: 3 · by **DISCHARGE** » Thu Apr 10, 2025 7:23 pm

I am seeing this will impact more than just collectors

Thankfully my daughter is grown and just wants tattoo money

https://people.com/toy-company-ceo-says-many-toys-twice-as-expensive-by-christmas-china-tariffs-11712856

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Thu Apr 10, 2025 9:14 pm

DISCHARGE wrote:I am seeing this will impact more than just collectors
Thankfully my daughter is grown and just wants tattoo money

https://people.com/toy-company-ceo-says-many-toys-twice-as-expensive-by-christmas-china-tariffs-11712856
Screenshot_20250410-191532_Chrome.jpg

Its going to impact everyone in the US for sure

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Fri Apr 11, 2025 5:08 am

SOURCE.

I love The Babylon Bee. One of the rare satire site that won't hesitate to take the piss out of everyone. :lol:

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 9:53 am

-Kanrabat- wrote:
Tariff Fairy.png

SOURCE.

I love The Babylon Bee. One of the rare satire site that won't hesitate to take the piss out of everyone.

Turns out all etectronics (laptops, phones, drives) are exempt from the tariffs imposed on China, so manufacturing wont be coming back for those. And that exemption happened without China even considering negotiations. Looks to me like Trump might not be that good at negotiating after all if he folded this quickly on the most important bit (which is what Lutnik was talking about last week).
But all that ribbing aside, it means that Trump doesn’t really have all the power, he is beholden to multinational corporations like Apple.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 1:49 pm

Obviously, no president can have all the power.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to see what will be the long term changes after all of these shenanigans.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Sun Apr 13, 2025 8:54 pm

-Kanrabat- wrote:Obviously, no president can have all the power.

A fascist megalomaniacal dictator can. >:oP

Emerje

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 10:10 am

-Kanrabat- wrote:Obviously, no president can have all the power.

But in a usual context, that means Power also resides with the other branches of gonverment.
Now with this particular context, it means Power resides with the corporations.

Trump is not answering to the american people, he is answering to the multinational corporations.

And now we have a case where a US company assembling a laptop in the US is tariffed on their imports of parts while a US company assembling a laptop in China gets 0 tariffs at imports.

If that's the case, then there's no point in manufacturing any laptop or phone in the US, so less manufacturing jobs in the future.

No joke, he is going at this the worst way possible for the American people. From all the evidence shown with the latest policies, he does not seem to have them at heart at all.

News Credits: 100 · by **-Kanrabat-** » Mon Apr 14, 2025 1:18 pm

william-james88 wrote:No joke, he is going at this the worst way possible for the American people. From all the evidence shown with the latest policies, he does not seem to have them at heart at all.

Like I said before, he dumped the baby along the bathwater.

Before doing those crazy tariffs, he should have cut the corporation AND the worker's taxes by half (or close to that) for any production made in the USA. Also, cut some pointless rules that hinder the creation of enterprises.

Only after those things would have been solidly implemented that you trickle down some Tariffs, % by %, seasons after seasons.

Honey from the start, not vinegar.

But eh, that would be too logical. :HEADHURTS:

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Tue Apr 15, 2025 10:02 am

-Kanrabat- wrote:
william-james88 wrote:No joke, he is going at this the worst way possible for the American people. From all the evidence shown with the latest policies, he does not seem to have them at heart at all.

Like I said before, he dumped the baby along the bathwater.

Before doing those crazy tariffs, he should have cut the corporation AND the worker's taxes by half (or close to that) for any production made in the USA. Also, cut some pointless rules that hinder the creation of enterprises.

Only after those things would have been solidly implemented that you trickle down some Tariffs, % by %, seasons after seasons.

Honey from the start, not vinegar.

But eh, that would be too logical.

He says he intends to get rid of the federal income tax and replace it with the tariffs, which is stupid. Not just because many of these tariffs are at a much higher rate than our income tax, but because if the whole point of the tariffs is to get companies to shift production to the US and reduce imports that would mean a sharp decrease in tariff collection. So then what would be funding the government? Most likely they'd collect it through Medicare, Social Security, probably introduce a federal sales tax (on top of the state and country taxes that most of us already pay) among other things.

Congressional Republicans (in an effort to save their jobs at the end of their terms) have apparently been trying to introduce bills that would force tariffs to be passed through congress like they should be rather than at the whim of one man. Congress was created in response to our forefather's cry of no taxation without representation, they're our tax representatives. At least one of them should pass so there's some hope. Gee, maybe Congress shouldn't have been decreasing their own power and handing it over to Presidents over the years.

Emerje