Looming tariffs are making it extra hard to be a tech geek

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Providing more detail around how tariffs impact a company like Qwerteykeys and its customers, the company noted that DHL, its “primary shipping partner,” will start charging a minimum handling fee of 17 percent plus 20 percent of the declared value as import duty starting May 2.

Meanwhile, Keyboardio, known for high-end, split mechanical keyboards, paused US orders as of April 23. In a blog post, the company said it fulfills orders out of Hong Kong because it’s “close to our factory, reasonably priced, and can easily handle fulfilling orders going all around the world.” The blog said:

The exact mechanics of how this is going to work are fuzzy. While we expect that people will stop importing as much due to tariffs making it unaffordable, it still implies a lot of additional work for custom[s]. It’s not clear to us—or the carriers—that customs is staffed up to handle this increased volume, and we’re expecting that any packages arriving to the USA once the de minimis rule goes away may have long processing delays.

Keyboardio also highlighted uncertainty around “which carriers will be operating, what documentation we’ll need (possibly including customers’ social security numbers), what clearance fees or additional customs bond fees will be assessed, or most critically, what the actual delivery timeline will be.”

Keyboardio admitted that if it does start shipping to the US again, its products are “going to be more expensive and more annoying to get.”

With many mechanical keyboard switches coming from China as well, building mechanical keyboards will likely get more costly and complicated soon, too.

I’m not alone

The looming threat of tariffs is throwing a wrench into the plans of all types of technology enthusiasts. People who love things like computers, computer peripherals, maker projects, and retro gaming are all being impacted, regardless of their political or economic viewpoints. As the world waits to see how the US tariff situation plays out, hobbyists wonder if we’ll be able to make that upgrade or finish a project with manageable costs.