So I don't know if there is zero tariffs on completed items. Next to the one off small items I order, I don't order many large completed, items from China.
But on all the larger PCB and component orders I do, (normally over $500), there is a 25% tariffs.
My understanding was the bill was to apply 25% for all imported electronics, but the Apples of the world (and other brands) screamed, and the bill was changed to just parts.
It did make the 2 PCB manufactures left in the US more price competitive to China. But China still has the manufacturing speed. I can design a PCB click order and have it made in China and in my hands in the US in 4 days (well, pre covid). The US based companies take 2 weeks just to make it.
This is a huge problem for me (and us) !!
For example.... The MidNite DIY inverter(s) and controller(s) come from China and are a completed product with around 7% tariffs, delivered...
This is part of the reason why we offer those inverter/controllers in the first place. Very hard to compete with that. Some like made in America products but most people go on lowest price.
We manufacture controllers and stuff that do use some parts that must come from China and other countries. Chinese components are normally 25% but there has been 40% parts. One part for instance are snap-in electrolytic capacitors at 25% tariff. The US does not make any decent caps anymore. The US does not make hardly any of the components to manufacture electronics anymore. Not even packaging and aluminum castings, etc.
Another example is a simple shipping box and (I think) the Styrofoam packing. Our usual US source wants $15 for that. China wants like, $3.
Even with tariffs it is a no-brainer.
This is totally backwards ! What we have heard is that this backwards mentality results from lobbyists in the industry. Us little solar guys don't have lobbyists.
And the tariffs are not going away soon. BIG debts to pay off I guess.
India, Taiwan and Mexico are alternatives for some of this. OutBack and Schneider are built in India but they are also sold in India.
I long for the good old days before all of this but here we are.
boB