TL;DR
- Handheld maker Anbernic has announced that it has suspended shipments to the US from China.
- Anbernic cited tariff changes as the reason for the decision.
- The company says customers can still get shipments from its US warehouse for now.
The US tariff war with China, along with changes in duties, means that products from China will be more expensive. Unfortunately, it looks like a major gaming handheld company has decided to stop shipping devices to the US for now.
Anbernic announced on its website that it has suspended shipments to the US from China, citing the US tariff changes:
Due to changes in US tariff policies, we will be suspending all orders shipping from China to the United States starting today. We strongly recommend prioritizing products shipped from our US warehouse, which are currently not affected by import duties and can be purchased with confidence.
We’re glad to see that customers can still buy products from the US warehouse, but this stockpile isn’t going to last forever. So if you’re in the market for an Anbernic gaming handheld, you should take up this option sooner rather than later.
The company also noted that it would publish a revised shipping policy as soon as it receives verified information regarding import duties.
This news comes after the US escalated tariffs against China. However, it also follows an end to de minimis exceptions on products coming from China. The latter is effectively a death blow for cheap handhelds as they’ll be subjected to minimum duties of $75 from May, escalating to $150 in June. It’s worth noting that Anbernic has handhelds that ordinarily start from under $50.
Anbernic isn’t the only handheld company experiencing issues due to US tariffs and duties. Retroid recently announced that US customers buying the Teal, Kiwi, and Berry variants of the Retroid Pocket Classic handheld will face indefinite delays. The company urged these customers to contact customer support in order to switch to any other color of the handheld.
