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A wedding in Chicago, Chinatown, 1987
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Trump rolls back on tariff on tea
Obscurity remains
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Good news — Last Friday President Trump announced that tea will be exempted from the 15% tariff on goods from Japan.
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So does this mean we can resume shipping to the US?
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Short answer: not just yet. Unfortunately, the situation is more complicated.
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It was painful for us to suspend US shipping in August. We have many tea friends and customers there. To me personally, USA was where my first son was born, and where I had an important 10 years of my career. Despite what people may say about its shortcomings, I still love the place. It feels good to stay connected with tea as the bridge.
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I was featured in a few media stories in Chicago in 1987, including news TV and printed media. Haven't kept much records in those days except somehow this clipping from a local newspaper. The reports triggered a series of connections that helped to form one of my earlier career paths.
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Despite this recent rollback announcement, several practical issues remain:
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- Japan Post has not yet resumed small-parcel service to the US.
- FedEx and DHL systems are still applying the 15% Japan tariff, even when the shipment contains tea that should now be exempt.
- Unclear border procedures remain a major concern.
- After the recent rule changes, US border controls introduced new routines and paperwork that even officials seem unsure about. This has caused delays, unexpected charges for some of you, and risk to our service reliability—not to mention the additional costs and manpower required on our end.
- As of this moment, it is still uncertain which procedures will remain in effect and which will be removed under the tariff rollback.
Before the announcement, we had already tested several small wholesale and retail shipments and thought we had finally found a workable method to navigate the inconsistent procedures. Our original plan was to resume US shipping this Monday.
Now, we must re-confirm the updated rules and adjust the shop’s shipping formulas again before reopening to the US.
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One of the new teapots that will be released soon.
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Please allow us a few more days. We will also be releasing new products soon, so the timing may work out nicely.
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We will update you as soon as we have a clear path forward.
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P.S. For wholesale clients: this is still good news. We can ship whenever your stock is ready. We may need to charge the tariff upfront because of the courier’s compulsory paperworks, but we will refund it if it is indeed officially exempt. If you already have a FedEx account that we can file, the process will be even more straightforward.
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