TL;DR
- A new executive order removes the de minimis exemption from imports under $800.
- This will increase the cost of gaming handhelds by at least 30% starting on May 2, 2025.
- A minimum fee of $25 will apply to cheaper handhelds, increasing to $50 on June 1, 2025.
The proliferation of cheap gaming handhelds from the likes of TrimUI and Anbernic may be coming to a close, as a new executive order is set to eliminate the de minimis tax exemption on products under $800 coming from China on May 2. Under the new rules, all products will be subject to a minimum duty rate of 30% of their stated value.
However, the minimum fee per product is $25, meaning that gaming handhelds with a stated value under $80 or so will pay an even higher percentage in fees. This minimum fee will increase to $50 on June 1, which doubles the effective price of many budget handhelds.
The sweeping tariffs will apply to more than just gaming handhelds, but products that ship directly from China will be the first to feel the impact. Since nearly all emulation-focused devices are manufactured in China and few companies have overseas warehouses, there may only be a few weeks left to order devices before the de minimis exemption ends. It will likely affect pre-orders for the highly anticipated Retroid Flip 2 and Retroid Pocket Classic, which are expected to ship at the end of April.
Duties will be felt most on cheaper handhelds, and it may kill the market entirely.
This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has announced that it will end the de minimis exception. A previous executive order in February threw importers into a panic by suddenly ending the exemption, which caused huge delays as systems to collect duties were simply not ready. A few days later the exemption was put back into place, but only until “adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue.”
