When DHL delivered mail to Adafruit Industries last week, it wasn’t a typical invoice but a gut punch: a $36,126.46 customs duty bill that had to be paid within seven days.
The bill comes from Trump’s multi-layered tariffs that can stack up to 170% on certain electronics components. For Adafruit, a company that supplies makers and engineers with specialized electronic parts, this creates a perfect storm.
These components were ordered months ago before tariff changes, can’t be sourced elsewhere due to intellectual property restrictions, and must be paid for immediately — not after sales are made.
Here’s the rub, and you said it: The tariffs may not last and our politics come in 4-year intervals. Who in their right mind is going to build factories here given the outrageous risk?
Also, not sure what you’re on about with America not being able to defend itself? Chinese rare earth export bans?