If that is the case of tariffs, then why are things that can never be produced in the US at all (or at a large enough scale) being tariffed? The US cannot make mangoes, bananas, or enough coffee to meet demand, so the US government is just now collecting an extra tax on Americans on these impossible to produce in the US items.
There are many more things the US cannot produce at all that are tariffed and other things that the US cannot produce reliably for 5 to 10 to more years in the future, even if a company was willing to build a factory starting today.
Even if Bambu Labs built a factory here in the US and could open it in 6 months, they’d still have to pay tariffs on all of the semiconductors, silicon chips and screens that they’d have to import to assemble the printers.
So people living in the US are just throwing money away on tariffs of items that we have no hope of making. Great deal! Art of the steal!
It may get higher, but don’t look at that headline to judge that. The 245% is the cost of the EV Car tariff already in place for Chinese EVs. So, its accurate, but just specific to EVs.
When you purchase from a local company (BambuLab has local branches in the US and the EU ), you won’t need to pay tariffs because they have already been covered by the importer, in this case, BambuLab’s local branches. So it’s the same as buying something at a local store. This means that once you’ve paid, there won’t be additional tariffs charged to you as the prices for already paid goods cannot be increased.
Conversely, if you buy directly from Prusa, which is based inside the European Union, you will have to handle the tariffs yourself since you are the importer. Prusa, being a European company based in CZ, does not have local branches in the US. However, if Prusa had a local branch in the US, you would not need to pay these tariffs as the local branch would handle the importation. You can typically find details about a company’s local branches on their ‘Contact Us’ or ‘About Us’ page.
If you’re considering purchasing a Prusa printer outside the EU, it’s recommended to buy from a local retailer. Local retailers usually pay tariffs based on the declared value of the goods, which is typically lower for wholesalers than the retail price you would pay if purchasing directly from Prusa. This approach can offer cost savings: for example, Bamboo’s price increases are relatively modest compared to the hefty tariffs. This is because their Chinese headquarters sell the printers to their local branches in the US/EU at the declared value, which is likely much less than the retail price and approximately equal to the manufacturing costs.
