Shipping to USA - Important Update

I am sure many of you have become aware of an issue unfolding in relation to goods being shipping to the USA from outside of the USA. From August 29th (this coming Friday), the de minimis exemption which has enabled US consumers to purchase goods valued at $800 or less from outside the US without paying any tariffs ends. So what does this mean for you when purchasing from Susan Crawford Vintage?

Over the last few weeks I have been doing my utmost to navigate the constantly changing landscape and trying to establish how to minimise the impact to us all and how to abide by the new rules. Things will vary from business to business so how I proceed relate specifically to my own business. I would be so grateful if you could spend a few minutes reading through this newsletter which I'll also share on the website for future reference. Again, things may change - and we will have to deal if this is the case, but for now, we have a plan.

What is happening?

1. From the 29th August, all goods no matter how low their value, being shipped from outside the USA, arriving in the USA, must have tariffs paid on them. These tariffs relate to the country the goods have been manufactured in. Goods manufactured in the UK incur the lowest tariffs of all countries outside of the USA, with a tariff of only 10%. All of the goods we produce at Susan Crawford Vintage are made in the UK and are therefore subject only to this 10% tariff.

2. Additional good news is that printed books are exempt from the tariffs, and can be purchased and shipped without there being extra duties/taxes or tariffs to pay. However they still need to be processed through customs in the same way as goods with duties/tariffs applied.

3. Due to the additional processing required for packages arriving in the US, there will be handling charges applied by the different carriers.

4. US customs have stipulated that all incoming packages must have the tariffs paid PRIOR to packages entering the US. This is the most significant difference to how things currently operate and what has caused the biggest stumbling block for most systems already in place.

5. Its important to remember this only applies to physical goods. PDF patterns and books are unaffected by the tariff changes. Likewise bookings for any of our retreats are also unaffected.

What changes am I making at SCV?

The good news is that Royal Mail the carrier we use for sending out our parcels all over the world, are rewriting their system to enable small businesses like mine to send parcels to the USA with the tariffs already paid and for this tariff to be paid to the appropriate body in the USA. Naturally this is taking some time and so we are having to take a brief pause from shipping to the USA in order for the required systems to be put in place and crucially, to avoid the risk of a package arriving in the USA after the deadline with duties/tariffs unpaid. This would result in either unknown charges being applied and charged to the recipient or the parcel being returned or destroyed.

I'm so terribly sad that I have had to take this decision but things are moving extremely quickly and outside of my control so there really isn't any choice. Royal Mail and other carriers have also temporarily paused shipping packages to the USA in order to put new systems in place. A team from Royal Mail has been in the USA working closely with US customs and have done an amazing job in trying to sort this out. There really hasn't been very much concrete advise or assistance available otherwise.

You will very probably have seen stories on social media and in the press of the huge cost being added to incoming packages; however I'm delighted to say that because of all our goods being manufactured in the UK, Royal Mail will only be applying the 10% tariff to our yarn and yarn kits and a zero tariff to our printed books. (It should be noted that when the tariff is calculated it is on the value of the goods plus shipping costs, so the fact that Royal Mail also offer some of the most reasonably pricing shipping also helps in this situation). And most significantly they are only adding a 50 pence handling charge per package for the service and have stated that at present, they do not intend to increase shipping costs.

The second crucial part of the changes we are having to make, is updating our website to be able to calculate the tariff applicable to your order and for this to be added to your order at checkout. This also requires some new systems adding to the back end of the website, and so we have engaged a third party company who specialises in taxes and duties to implement these changes for us. Again this will take a little time and is much easier to do with orders not being placed, however we again hope that this will all be in place by the 29th or very shortly afterwards. This system will enable you to see clearly the cost of the tariffs separately to your shipping costs and will be payable as part of your order. The tariff charges along with the shipping cost will then be paid by Susan Crawford Vintage to Royal Mail who will then pay all charges on our behalf hopefully ensuring your goods enter the USA smoothly, without delay and without any additional charges.

Of course as we all know any new system is not foolproof and so pausing shipping to the USA just for a short time allows everything to be put in place and tested before we use it.

Will our prices go up?

This is a tricky thing to predict with the volatility of things at the moment, but we don't currently have any plans to increase our prices directly as a result of the tariff being introduced.

Additionally, in the UK, companies who reach a specified turnover have to become VAT registered. SCV is VAT registered so this means that we have to charge 20% VAT (a form of sales tax) to all UK customers purchasing from us and then remit it to UK customs. However US customers do not pay this tax, so when purchasing from my website, the price you see is 20% less than that charged to a UK customer. So in essence, you receive a 20% discount on the full price of goods on the website, so even with the 10% tariff on top, the price is still less than that paid by UK customers!

Bear in mind this doesn't apply to printed books as VAT is not charged on books anyway.

So what does this all mean when you place an order?

The main thing is, nothing will feel much different when you checkout. Everything will be done behind the scenes to make your purchase as straightforward as possible.

The only difference will be, on reaching checkout, you will see an additional charge for tariffs which will be added to the total cost of your order. Once you've placed your order as normal, you will not need to take any further action. The tariffs and the customs handling will be done through us and you should hopefully receive your good promptly and without any further charges being applied.

Finally, do hope that this all makes sense but if you require any further clarification, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at admin@susancrawfordvintage.com and we will do our best to help.