Tariff Impact on Our Hobby

[Curt B]

With the new tariffs being imposed by the US government, how badly will our hobby be affected? Considering a large majority of all our hobby products come from China, there’s no doubt there will be a significant impact. Is it time to buy like crazy to stock up?

(Of course, this is just a point for the US members of this forum…)

Edited February 2, 2025 by Curt B

[phantom]

Without getting political, this is going to be bad. I anticipate being laid off within the week. Lucky its a part time job and I am on a pension. Botherinlaw will for sure loose his job in a couple days.

Hobby wise, I will not be getting anything from the US for some time. Just going to have to be happy with what is in the stash. Sure as crap not buying orange juice to have at my hobby desk for a long time either.

 

I would like to say a bunch about the person whose fault this is, but that is against the rules, and as I am one of the few remaining moderators I won't.

 

I WILL say the premise of the tariffs, is faulty at best. Can not answer for Mexico and China ( that is a legit complaint) but a FACT is Millions or hundreds of thousands of pounds of fentanyl is NOT coming from Canada. According to US Immigration in the last couple years it was 46 pounds. Not 460,000 or 4,600000 pounds, 46. Also we get way more illegal immigration FROM the US then goes INTO the US from Canada. Not to mention illegal guns.

I was law enforcement for 33 years so I do know the facts.

 

This topic will go bad soon. I will lock it when it does. In the mean time. If we can keep it civil, and try to stay on topic without mentioning politics (too much) I will let it go.   

[phantom]

Oh, here is an idea on the tariffs. We can sell each other our unwanted stash stuff. As far as I know, tariffs can't effect private sales (I think).

 

Remember, we all have friends here on ARC across many borders. Help a brother (or sister) out and check out the ARC for sale lists. Come to think of it, I have to update the decals I have for sale.

 

Don't get into fights with each other, we will let the politicians do that. We all have our own opinions which might not match up with others. Keep this thread civil so we don't have to lock it.

Edited February 2, 2025 by phantom

[GW8345]

4 hours ago, phantom said:

Without getting political, this is going to be bad. I anticipate being laid off within the week. Lucky its a part time job and I am on a pension. Botherinlaw will for sure loose his job in a couple days.

Hobby wise, I will not be getting anything from the US for some time. Just going to have to be happy with what is in the stash. Sure as crap not buying orange juice to have at my hobby desk for a long time either.

 

I would like to say a bunch about the person whose fault this is, but that is against the rules, and as I am one of the few remaining moderators I won't.

 

I WILL say the premise of the tariffs, is faulty at best. Can not answer for Mexico and China ( that is a legit complaint) but a FACT is Millions or hundreds of thousands of pounds of fentanyl is NOT coming from Canada. According to US Immigration in the last couple years it was 46 pounds. Not 460,000 or 4,600000 pounds, 46. Also we get way more illegal immigration FROM the US then goes INTO the US from Canada. Not to mention illegal guns.

I was law enforcement for 33 years so I do know the facts.

 

This topic will go bad soon. I will lock it when it does. In the mean time. If we can keep it civil, and try to stay on topic without mentioning politics (too much) I will let it go.   

Ok, I can't let this go without a rebuttal.

 

You tell everyone to refrain from politics yet you get political. You take the word of the previous administration when they claim only 46 pounds came from Canada so allow me to remind you that that same administration also said that our southern border was secure, that Chinese balloon was a weather balloon, that the previous president was sharp as a tac, that consumer prices were going down, the laptop was Russian misinformation, that the virus came from a bat, that they lowered household energy costs, that rising gas prices were due to the war in Ukraine and that they didn't stop the drilling of oil in the US, that inflation doesn't hurt American households, and I could go one but I think you get the point.

 

This topic went bad as soon as you posted, none of it has anything to do with how tariff's will affect our hobby, most of it is political and yet you tell members here not to get political.

 

Now, my prediction for this thread, you'll lock this thread down, delete my post (heck, you'll probably ban me) and claim someone got political but remember, you started the political BS then had the audacity to tell other's not to get political, does hypocrisy mean anything to you?

 

GW

Out

[Curt B]

Hey All,

 

I REALLY didn’t want this to be political.  I guess I was too stupid to think it could remain that way.  Suggest locking the thread before it gets ugly and my sincere apologies for starting this without thinking hard enough about the likely path forward…

[habu2]

Well that didn't take long....

 

[Camus272]

8 hours ago, phantom said:

Oh, here is an idea on the tariffs. We can sell each other our unwanted stash stuff. As far as I know, tariffs can't effect private sales (I think).

 

Yeah, I would kind of like to stock up from Luckymodel. But, going forward, I think I'll just keep an eye on Ebay items rather than foreign distributors.

[ST0RM]

I'm sitting in a pretty large stash. Mostly 1/72 that I've been wanting to get rid of. Maybe now it'll move, as previously there wasn't much interest or the ones that were, tried to low ball. 

Edited February 3, 2025 by ST0RM

[STEN8]

Is there a tariff between Tennessee and Florida? If not, I say, post your 1/72 kits and I'll give them a look!😀

 

Harry

Lutz, FL

[ST0RM]

17 minutes ago, STEN8 said:

Is there a tariff between Tennessee and Florida? If not, I say, post your 1/72 kits and I'll give them a look!😀

 

Harry

Lutz, FL

🤣 Will do soon. 

[phantom]

11 hours ago, GW8345 said:

Ok, I can't let this go without a rebuttal.

 

You tell everyone to refrain from politics yet you get political. You take the word of the previous administration when they claim only 46 pounds came from Canada so allow me to remind you that that same administration also said that our southern border was secure, that Chinese balloon was a weather balloon, that the previous president was sharp as a tac, that consumer prices were going down, the laptop was Russian misinformation, that the virus came from a bat, that they lowered household energy costs, that rising gas prices were due to the war in Ukraine and that they didn't stop the drilling of oil in the US, that inflation doesn't hurt American households, and I could go one but I think you get the point.

 

This topic went bad as soon as you posted, none of it has anything to do with how tariff's will affect our hobby, most of it is political and yet you tell members here not to get political.

 

Now, my prediction for this thread, you'll lock this thread down, delete my post (heck, you'll probably ban me) and claim someone got political but remember, you started the political BS then had the audacity to tell other's not to get political, does hypocrisy mean anything to you?

 

GW

Out

 

I would not ban ya. I personally think I we all have an opinion even if others do not agree with it. The only people I ban are spammers. You are right, I did go too political, Don't like the idea of loosing my job this week. 

 

The word I took of 46 pounds is from US immigration. I have to think that was not some politician but the same civil servants that check that stuff on my side of the border.  I dealt with law and immigration holds for 33 years. My office was not political. We just dealt with facts.

 

 

I am glad to see many are agreeing with the point I tried to make, sell your unloved stash to others here on ARC.

Edited February 3, 2025 by phantom

[Tank]

16 hours ago, phantom said:

Hobby wise, I will not be getting anything from the US for some time.

If so choose because of a big reason than hobby related that your right but it doesn’t seem CA is doing a tariff on hobby related items that I could see.

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/02/list-of-products-from-the-united-states-subject-to-25-per-cent-tariffs-effective-february-4-2025.html

[Tank]

18 hours ago, Curt B said:

With the new tariffs being imposed by the US government, how badly will our hobby be affected? Considering a large majority of all our hobby products come from China, there’s no doubt there will be a significant impact. Is it time to buy like crazy to stock up?

(Of course, this is just a point for the US members of this forum…)

Last time it was not on hobby related items that had a tariff from China. Too early to tell what if any impact will be made this time. If company X has molds made in China but packaging etc are done elsewhere is that included. 

[Dutch]

16 hours ago, phantom said:

Oh, here is an idea on the tariffs. We can sell each other our unwanted stash stuff. As far as I know, tariffs can't effect private sales (I think).

 

Remember, we all have friends here on ARC across many borders. Help a brother (or sister) out and check out the ARC for sale lists. Come to think of it, I have to update the decals I have for sale.

 

Don't get into fights with each other, we will let the politicians do that. We all have our own opinions which might not match up with others. Keep this thread civil so we don't have to lock it.

Shawn,

I was thinking the same thing when the tariffs were announced.  I need to take a break from ordering new stuff from overseas anyway.  So I pledge to scan through the wants list or for sale list regularly and see if I can help a brother or sister out until this whole thing passes. 

K/r, Dutch

[nachjager]

I don't think there will be any visible impact at this moment on hobby-related items, but with increased prices on foodstuff and other commodities the demand for kits and aftermarkets will surely diminish, especially for Boomers who depend on pension and Social Security as the only way of income.  

One thing is certain at this moment: the world as we knew it will never be the same. Ever. And. (at least for me), this little crazy hobby of us will will be the only thing to bring us some sanity in these insane times. 
 

As the great prophet Saint David Klaus said: don't let them steal your joy... 

Edited February 3, 2025 by nachjager
corrections

[phantom]

Yep, hobby wise, I am just saving money for real life , like food.

 

Also hobby wise one reason I am not buying outside Canada, our dollar is far to low right now. Hobby can wait till life gets back to normal. Hopefully soon.

[Jon Krol]

12 hours ago, GW8345 said:

Ok, I can't let this go without a rebuttal.

 

You tell everyone to refrain from politics yet you get political. You take the word of the previous administration when they claim only 46 pounds came from Canada so allow me to remind you that that same administration also said that our southern border was secure, that Chinese balloon was a weather balloon, that the previous president was sharp as a tac, that consumer prices were going down, the laptop was Russian misinformation, that the virus came from a bat, that they lowered household energy costs, that rising gas prices were due to the war in Ukraine and that they didn't stop the drilling of oil in the US, that inflation doesn't hurt American households, and I could go one but I think you get the point.

 

This topic went bad as soon as you posted, none of it has anything to do with how tariff's will affect our hobby, most of it is political and yet you tell members here not to get political.

 

Now, my prediction for this thread, you'll lock this thread down, delete my post (heck, you'll probably ban me) and claim someone got political but remember, you started the political BS then had the audacity to tell other's not to get political, does hypocrisy mean anything to you?

 

GW

Out

LOL.

[Geoff M]

I am a bike shop owner and the last time tariffs were imposed on chinese imports all our bikes that we got from China magically started coming from VietNam. 

So you load up your goods in China, send the boat to Viet Nam, relabel all the product with Made in Viet Nam, presto digito no tariff.  Thats how it will affect our hobby.  Probably would not work with Canada and Mexico.  Don't understand why we want to antagonize our friends to the north.

[STEN8]

This might actually help me out. The politics of it all, like so much of my life's experiences, are way, way past my pay grade. Like a leaf in a millrace - I'm just glad to occasionally have a rudder. I'll do what I usually do in a ****storm - keep my head down, look after me and mine, keep faith in my fellow man, confident that in the end the trajectory of humanity is an upward one and always has been.

 

Regardless of the impact, it gives me excellent reasons to concentrate on building models, not acquiring them.

 

I am great at researching, purchasing, stashing, picking up aftermarket bling or exotic decals. In fact, I state with pride - I have a truly impressive stash. I like to look at it, contemplate the next builds, browse the internet to modify the kits even before I actually cut plastic. Those are some of the most pleasurable aspects of scale modeling to me, and always have been.

 

But building them is the entire point. Displaying them, warts and all, being able to point a couple (five?) to the select few who even SEE them, much less appreciate what they mean to me.  I am not warehousing styrene, paint and tools for a museum, and the material has never have been an investment. To many their stash is, and my hat is off to them. But not to me. Frankly, I doubt I can build the models I have, and that hurts to admit.

 

So if these recent events disrupt the normal flow of events - and they will - I am just going to build more models. I have made too many online friends on this website, including several I have actually met, to risk jeopardizing an important resource.  To all of those friends, I look forward to buying/selling/trading/learning. 

 

Harry

Lutz, FL

[habu2]

Tariffs are a bully policy, they only antagonize their targets and (economically) punish the end customers, not the importers. Goods will either be end-run through other countries or the tariff will be tacked onto the price the consumers pay. The only "winner" is a certain person's ego.

[Dave Roof]

I think all this worrying is for nothing. Mexico just folded like a taco, and there is a good chance the tariff aimed at them will never happen. Now let's see how it plays out with the Maple kings.

 

[phantom]

50 minutes ago, Dave Roof said:

I think all this worrying is for nothing. Mexico just folded like a taco, and there is a good chance the tariff aimed at them will never happen. Now let's see how it plays out with the Maple kings.

 

Interesting. The tariffs are off for 30 days. Its everything Canada agreed to back in December. Why all the drama of the past weekend when the solution was something we implemented over a month ago?

[phantom]

Oh, added a "fentanyl czar" so somebody gets a nice paid gig.

 

Back to the hobby stuff, I am going to clean my desk after the Starfighter I am working on is dry. Still reducing my purchases, but mainly because of the low value of our dollar right now.

[Dave Roof]

Aaaaannnnd Canada gives in to meet 47's demands. I'd bet money those tariffs never take affect either. You can hate the man all you want, but he does what he feels needs to be done to get the results he wants. Is it always done the nice way? Absolutely not. Does it always work? Some times. He is a horrible speaker, is far from 'Presidential', sometimes just needs to STFU, but gets results and delivers on his promises. 

[phantom]

3 minutes ago, Dave Roof said:

Aaaaannnnd Canada gives in to meet 47's demands. I'd bet money those tariffs never take affect either. You can hate the man all you want, but he does what he feels needs to be done to get the results he wants. Is it always done the nice way? Absolutely not. Does it always work? Some times. He is a horrible speaker, is far from 'Presidential', sometimes just needs to STFU, but gets results and delivers on his promises. 

 

 

Apart from the fentanyl czar Canada did not do anything new. This was all agreed to in December.