Be careful with the negotiation push - it would be almost insulting to start that conversation because from the China POV this is your house causing all the problems. And at 145% its a non-starter - what are you going to negotiate on? 2%?
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We had a clothing line in production in China that we put on hold with the factory. We have a really good relationship with them because we have been flexible and accommodating on our side in the past, so they weren’t upset when we told them we needed to pause things. Our rep there wasn’t surprised at all and was expecting it, so I’m guessing we weren’t the only ones halting orders.
We were having this line made there because of wanting it to be made out of bamboo based fabric, which our customers love. Instead, we are now looking at working again with a factory in India to do a cotton based version instead.
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I wouldn’t be suprised if some YouTube / TikTok guru charlatans now state they’ve found “secret” suppliers who offer prices that will beat the tariffs.
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We don’t think this was what was happening here. This email came out before the tariff got to 145%. When it first came in, we thought they were saying “hey we are willing to eat the custom clearance and tax so place an order with us”.
At the current 145% tariff, we were wondering if they would still honor their promotion or walk it back.
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There’s just no way
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We don’t know …
1st email April 3
2nd email today April 11
Both promote the same conditions.
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Empty copy; needs to make sense within the bounds of physical laws - if you got two emails that said gravity didn’t exist you wouldn’t ponder the matter - you’d scream, “scam!”
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Not really … this is pretty much their normal promotion except it has the Free Shipping with the custom clearance and tax stated within the email. In the past with this company, we had to pay for shipping but have never had to deal with custom clearance or tax. Shipping generally ran 10% to 15% of the total purchace.
In today’s climate, we just found this to be a bold tactic with such uncertainties involved.
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Then I suppose their margins can sustain it and they’ve done the math.
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… or being subsidized for it
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Just saw a report on CNN that there will be no christmas lights / trees / decorations this year. Major retailers and suppliers are cancelling their orders.
This was from the head of the “National Christmas Tree Association”. 
Who knew there was such a thing…
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Thanks for the reminder. I’ve heard that many suppliers work with their US customers giving some discounts when the 20% additional tariff came weeks ago. I didn’t ask for the discount back then and absorbed the cost myself. It seems to be a common practice for suppliers to help absorb the tariff cost. So I don’t think it would be an insult. For the percentage, I would ask them to make an offer first… Anyhow I need to wait for my ocean freight agent to see how much of an increase it would be. Last time when the 20% happened, my freight cost went up around 8% (not 20%). Obviously the freight agent has some tricks up his sleeve. I need to know the new number because start talking to the suppliers.
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Thanks for sharing your story. Glad to hear another story that the supplier is understanding and not get upset at pausing. I’m expecting my supplier to act the same like yours (not getting upset) because we have good relationship for almost 10 years. However when it comes to negotiating on the lower price, I’m still not sure what’s the best way to do. To be honest, if the 100%+ tariff stay, it’s hard to do business. My profit margin is nowhere near 100% 
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Maybe the email came after the first 20% tariff increase?
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A post was merged into an existing topic: Import Tariff’s as of 04/03/2025