“Because of modifications in U.S. tariff insurance policies, we might be suspending all orders transport from China to america beginning at this time,” writes Anbernic. “We strongly advocate prioritizing merchandise shipped from our U.S. warehouse, that are at present not affected by import duties and may be bought with confidence.”
No, Anbernic didn’t arrange a brand-new US warehouse in response to tariffs — it’s been an possibility on its storefront for a while. Usually, Anbernic begins by drop-shipping every new handheld from China on to patrons’ properties after they’re launched, then stockpiles further items in US warehouses for quicker ship instances. Anbernic lets patrons decide which warehouse they like on its checkout web page.
As of final week, Anbernic had already begun suggesting that US patrons decide its US warehouse as a result of “orders shipped to america could also be topic to excessive customs duties,” asking prospects to “take this potential threat under consideration when making your buy selections.”
However now, the corporate is suspending these shipments fully — equally to how acclaimed retro recreation scaler maker RetroTINK suspended shipments not simply due to tariffs, however “because of lack of steering on how tariffs might 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 purpose for Anbernic’s reputation is that its retro handhelds are low cost, sometimes round $70 for the most recent fashions. (Some additionally do a superb job emulating the feel and appear of basic Nintendo handhelds, as you possibly can see in my movies above and beneath.) However these low costs are actually fully beneath menace by Trump’s tariffs and the elimination of the de minimis exemption for affordable Chinese language items. It’s not clear if or how firms like Anbernic may afford to renew shipments, ought to these tariffs really take maintain.
In the meanwhile, Anbernic handhelds are additionally nonetheless accessible within the US by way of third-party sellers like Amazon — which I’ve all the time discovered shocking on condition that these ones sometimes include Nintendo, Sega and Sony ROMs.