“As a result of adjustments in U.S. tariff insurance policies, we shall be suspending all orders delivery from China to america beginning immediately,” writes Anbernic. “We strongly suggest prioritizing merchandise shipped from our U.S. warehouse, that are at the moment 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 choice on its storefront for a while. Usually, Anbernic begins by drop-shipping every new handheld from China on to consumers’ houses after they’re launched, then stockpiles extra items in US warehouses for sooner 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 america could also be topic to excessive customs duties,” asking prospects to “take this potential threat into consideration when making your buy choices.”
However now, the corporate is suspending these shipments completely — 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 shall be collected.” I checked: whilst you can nonetheless add a Anbernic handheld to your US cart from a Chinese language warehouse, the corporate provides loads of warnings and gained’t allow you to buy it from there.
One purpose for Anbernic’s recognition is that its retro handhelds are low cost, sometimes round $70 for the most recent fashions. (Some additionally do a superb job emulating the appear and feel of traditional Nintendo handhelds, as you possibly can see in my movies above and under.) However these low costs at the moment are utterly beneath risk by Trump’s tariffs and the removal of the de minimis exemption for cheap Chinese goods. It’s not clear if or how corporations like Anbernic might afford to renew shipments, ought to these tariffs truly take maintain.
In the intervening time, Anbernic handhelds are additionally nonetheless obtainable within the US by way of third-party sellers like Amazon — which I’ve at all times discovered stunning on condition that these ones sometimes include Nintendo, Sega and Sony ROMs.