Tariff Chart for Optics and our approach
We live in a changing world of supply chain dislocation, price increases, and uncertainty. Our goal is transparency which is unlike one of our competitors who recently increased prices of all items on their webstore by 80% without notice.
For International Customers and Supply Chains: We’ve got it covered.
If you are outside of the US or if you have us ship internationally to a contract manufacturer outside the US: our intent is to keep your prices unaffected by US geopolitical activity if you provide sufficient lead-time.
Webstore Orders with international delivery outside the US
We have a “duty drawback” program in place whereby we can retrieve many tariffs we incurred on components and goods that are exported from the US. This duty drawback is how we are able to maintain our existing webstore prices for international customers.
We are still incurring substantial additional costs with drawbacks which is why we are unable to offer volume discounts for online purchases and you will need to purchase via PO with correct lead-time.
If these tariffs continue beyond June/July 2025, we may also fulfill directly from our facility in China.
Volume Orders with international delivery outside the US
We have reorganized our operations to keep volume orders destined for other countries “in bond” with US customs, thereby bypassing the impact from tariffs.
Please note that this strategy does require full lead-time and we will not be able to partial ship your volume orders from our US-domestic inventory without additional charges.
Tariff Chart for Optical Components and Lenses
We've used a $100 item from China as an example to keep the math simple. This table shows how duty drawback costs for international orders are non-zero (we cannot recoup 100%) which is why we request full lead-time from our international customers.
| Tariff | % | Stacked | Effective | Cost of $100 item | Drawback? | After Drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section 301 | 25% | 25% | July 6, 2018 | $125 | Yes | $102.50 |
| IEEPA 1 | 10% | 35% | Feb 4, 2025 | $135 | Cannot | $112.50 |
| IEEPA 2 | 10% | 45% | March 3, 2025 | $145 | Cannot | $122.50 |
| Reciprocal | 10% | 55% | April 5, 2025 | $155 | Yes | $123.50 |
| Retalitory | 125% | 180% | April 9, 2025 | $280 | Yes | $136.00 |
For US Customers: We will get through this.
Webstore Orders with domestic US delivery
On our webstore we have implemented a variable base price surcharge line item called “Tariffs” so that the impact is transparent. This Tariffs line item is much much lower than the real tariff rate (180%) and is meant as a method to partially offset additional costs: make no mistake we are already taking major compression.
With this cart-level price increase, we are trying to be transparent, to "share the pain", and to make sure you understand prices will return to normal if/when tariffs go back down.
Volume Orders with domestic US delivery
If you need to place volume orders, all prices are subject to change based on tariffs changes at the expected delivery date.
For any items that were entered into the US before the 135% reciprocal+retalitory tariffs, we will not charge additional fees, despite incurring a total ~45% including +20% IEEPA tariffs.
For any items that enter the US after the additional 135% tariffs, we will be adding a line item in our quotes to partially offset our additional costs. If tariffs are lowered before the full lead-time, this line item may be reduced, removed and/or not billed.
US Domestic Lens Production
We are able to assemble lenses with country of origin: US using the first fully automated lens assembly machine outside of Asia.
To utilize our domestic production capabilities, lead-time and/or NRE for re-engineering will be required.
We can also support full custom optical designs that are both designed and manufactured in the US.
Our Camera Module Partners
We work with many camera ODMs around the world, from China and India to Germany and the US. We can work with your preferred camera module manufacturer and almost certainly have worked with them on a past project.
We have publicly announced partnerships with two camera design manufacturers. Our partners are well aligned to support the bulk of our customers who need volumes ranging from 100pcs up to mass production of 250kpcs/yr. If you are interested in becoming a partner, please contact us.
e-con Systems
We work closely with e-con Systems on many projects. Together, we are well aligned to bring technical support to the early stages of your camera HW project andthen to scale the outcome to mass production.
