The US Government started the tariffs Worldwide from August 7th 2025
USA Tariffs Explained: A tariff is a tax that is levied upon goods, in this case by the USA Government upon from countries such as New Zealand. However, ultimately it is a tax on the US population (explained further below). US based importers pay these tariffs upon the goods arriving into the USA. When you – a single customer buys a product from overseas, the US Government sees you as being the importer.
Initially when you place an order with us, we will pack and send your order. When your order arrives in the USA, US Customs will contact you to pay the 15% tariff. Upon payment of the tariff, US Customs will release your order to USPS who will then deliver it.
NZ Post has told us they are working with the US Government to get a solution in place where we the merchant collect the tariffs (15% of your order total), that we then pass that over to NZ Post who in turn sends it to the US Government. This will ensure that your order will smoothly go through the system to be delivered to you with no intervention on your (the customer) part.
Further Tariff Information
Will it be cheaper for US based customers to buy from local stores in the United States? Initially, physical crystal shops and their US based wholesalers will be able to sell their existing stock at pre tariff prices (if they choose to do so). Any crystals mined in the USA will be exempt from tariffs. Unfortunately, 90% or more of the crystals in your local crystal shops are sourced from overseas. So any new stock the wholesalers get in, or shops source themselves from overseas countries will have the tariffs applied. The shops and wholesalers will 100% pass these costs on to the customer. That is the way tariffs have worked worldwide for more than 100 years.
Most of the Worlds polished crystals come from just 3 countries – China 79% tariff rate, Brazil 50% tariff rate, and India 50% tariff rate. Yikes! It could well turn out that buying from us in New Zealand may well be cheaper as the tariff on orders from NZ is only 15%!