“Because of modifications in U.S. tariff insurance policies, we will probably be suspending all orders transport from China to the USA beginning as we speak,” writes Anbernic. “We strongly advocate prioritizing merchandise shipped from our U.S. warehouse, that are at present not affected by import duties and might be bought with confidence.”
No, Anbernic didn’t arrange a brand-new US warehouse in response to tariffs — it’s been an choice on its storefront for a while. Usually, Anbernic begins by drop-shipping every new handheld from China on to consumers’ properties after they’re launched, then stockpiles extra models in US warehouses for quicker ship instances. Anbernic lets consumers decide which warehouse they like on its checkout web page.
As of final week, Anbernic had already begun suggesting that US consumers decide its US warehouse as a result of “orders shipped to the USA could also be topic to excessive customs duties,” asking clients to “take this potential threat into consideration when making your buy choices.”
However now, the corporate is suspending these shipments solely — equally to how acclaimed retro recreation scaler maker RetroTINK suspended shipments not just because of tariffs, however “on account of lack of steering on how tariffs will probably be collected.” I checked: whilst you can nonetheless add a Anbernic handheld to your US cart from a Chinese language warehouse, the corporate gives loads of warnings and gained’t allow you to buy it from there.
One motive for Anbernic’s reputation is that its retro handhelds are low-cost, sometimes round $70 for the most recent fashions. (Some additionally do a wonderful job emulating the appear and feel of basic Nintendo handhelds, as you possibly can see in my movies above and under.) However these low costs at the moment are fully underneath risk by Trump’s tariffs and the removal of the de minimis exemption for cheap Chinese goods. It’s not clear if or how firms like Anbernic may afford to renew shipments, ought to these tariffs truly take maintain.
In the intervening time, Anbernic handhelds are additionally nonetheless accessible within the US by way of third-party sellers like Amazon — which I’ve at all times discovered shocking on condition that these ones sometimes include Nintendo, Sega and Sony ROMs.
