Its been reported Hong Kong postal services are no longer accepting parcels destined for the US. Letters are fine, but no parcels. Freight forwarders are losing their shipping routes at a frightening rate. This is going to put the prices up drastically Ive been told but to me in the UK, I am already being offered better prices presumably to clear stock. Scary times folk!
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This is truly frustrating on so many levels. The American people are being priced OUT of the marketplace. We as American shopperās ARE the LOSERS in the tariff GAMEš©
EDIT
Wow! This week so many old suppliers in China have been sending emails on stock they cannot sell - itās not panic, but it seems every supplier (and that includes one offs, where I didnāt like the product and did not buy more) are scouring their old non-US emails. Iāve been offfered all sorts of products - both the equipment and accessories like batteries, cables, earpieces etc. Iāve even added a few products outside of my normal ones because the prices were good and I have even bought a few things for myself. Itās not just radios - I dabble a bit in musical instruments, and Iāve ordered a pile of things there I think I can sell . I presume, these were orginally intended for the US market.
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Hopefully, the manufacturers in China will have
time to reflect on how they might improve their
products and designs, making their products
actually useful, or more useful in the process.
I would love to see Radioddity and Retevis figure
out how to add the capability for any and all channels
on their GMRS radios to transmit (repeat OR simplex)
on GMRS, not just a few channels on repeat or
whatever as they now do. I wish Radioddity and
(some) Baofengs (like UV5G Plus) would figure
out and fix whatever it is on some of their htās that
causes a weird āpicket fencingā effect on receive
when traveling in an automobile. It is not normal
picket fencing but a bit more rapid. I have noticed
it within three blocks of a viable repeater and at
distances of several miles. My guess is they have
something weird with their AGC in these radios.
The problem is not there when walking or sitting
still. Finally, I wish that Wouxun would fix their issue
across many models of KG-series GMRS radios
with their CTCSS/CTCSS decoders. It is intermittent, but
I have experienced it with their KG905G, KG935G,
KG1000G, KG935G Plus, KGS88G, and KG1000G
Plus. While many claim they never had this problem,
it IS a real thing and I have experienced it with every
Wouxun radio I own in the above list, sometimes
with multiple specimens of the same model. I have
observed this problem on several friendsā radios,
also. Having bought well over $2,000 worth of Wouxuns
and accessories in the last few years, I know what
I am talking about. There is something in the
algorithmn in the aforementioned Wouxun models
(and maybe more) that causes the CTCSS/DCS
decoder to not open for other Wouxun radios or
other brands, on occasion. I like the Wouxun design
and performance, but until this bug is addressed,
acknowledged, and rectified, I am disinclined to
spend any more of my hard-earned money on their
radios. The Baofeng UV5R (and UV5G) is the flagship
of Cheap Chinese Junk radios. Even so, I have
never experienced this problem with those models
of Baofeng. Maybe Wouxun can collaborate with
Baofeng, and get a CTCSS/DCS decoder that does
not fail to open intermittently at times. I would
gladly pay another $20-35 per unit to not have
this annoying problem. Oh, and how about Wouxun
incorporate frequency stability and testing before
each radio leaves the factory? Yeah, it would be
worth a few extra bucks to me to ensure my radio
is on-frequency.
Maybe the CCJ manufacturers will use this lull
in sales to improve their design and manufacturing
processes. If not, I will not miss them if they fall
to ruin. Nature abhors a vacuum. Maybe the former
BIG THREE (YAE-KEN-COM) will fill it with better
and more worthwhile products. If so, I hope all,
but especially Yaesu, figure out the value of high
capacity batteries (2,000 mAh or hopefully better)
to people who might need serious communications.
I REALLY hope Iām wrong but as the tariffs slowly isolate U.S. from the rest of the world, these manufacturers must focus their efforts on countries not struggling with these tariff headaches. The obvious increases in pricing will have a significant impact on the American buyer. Even with the United States as a MAJOR customer for Asian companies in the past, they must now focus on this new monetary reality and itās not a pretty one.
Asian companies will cater to the EU, the UK, and Australia for sales while the USA becomes more and more isolated by these tariff barriers.
As an American citizen, I never thought Iād live to see such a regrettable situation.
Grigori, you bring up many good suggestions for improvements, however I really think these Asian manufacturers, will put ANY requests or suggestions for technical improvements from the United States āon the back burnerā.
We are no longer relevant anymore!
Tom WRQE346
My whatsapp has gone a bit mad in the middle of the night - I use this as my primary chat tool with the suppliers and got one at 3am here. A supplier apologising for the official Alibaba notifications sent in her name from the company - inundating me with with special offers and deals on products I simply donāt sell. She assured me she knew they were not my type of products but the management are putting huge pressure on the staff to shift US products to different territories. Really nice GMRS and FRS radios - solid, IP rated and actually nice looking radios for $9 each! Useless to me of course in the UK, but clearly they are starting to panic. This is no good for any country really. If there really are ānaughtyā chips in our everyday products, at what point do they get remotely switched on? Iāve always thought this probably just a fairy story, but with the worldās economy based on phones and computers? Who knows?
I think youāre right. Other countries are already making plans to sell their wares elsewhere. There are already many US focused products that will fade away if the tariff yo yo make it more difficult to sell to the US.
Things like making everything in US measurements and voltages. Theyāll focus on EU type specs and drop our āspecial needsā.
combeske, I hope youāre as wrong as I hope I am, HOWEVER the harsh reality is that these manufacturers can no longer rely on American consumers to keep them in business. Iāve bought some extremely high quality electronics and electrical items from Temu lately at unbelievable prices. Iāll miss that shopping experience.
As Americans, weāve enjoyed some really nice deals.
Best wishes,
Tom WRQE346