Today we are going to walk through (1) What a tariff is, (2) How a tariff affects the price of diapers, and ultimately (3) How tariffs affect you. So grab a fresh sippy cup and get comfy - it's story time (yay!). To understand tariffs you also need to understand a little bit about how manufacturing works and the journey diapers take in getting to your butt. 

Your Diaper's Journey Home

In a magic land where all things are handmade by machines there is a factory. This is no ordinary factory, though - it is a magic factory. This factory doesn't make hollow chocolate bunnies, lumber for houses, or crayons for coloring books - this factory makes diapers! Not just any diapers, though - these are diapers in YOUR size!

The factory works all day and all night, using glue, paper pulp, SAP, cotton, and words only grown-ups know.

Finally, the factory completes its magic and a big crate filled with cases and cases of diapers is placed on a boat, headed to the store for sale. The boat sets off, crossing the seas for almost endless days and nights.

Epically, the boat reaches its destination port and the cargo is checked by the customs agents from the government. These agents are responsible for making sure taxes (called "duties") are paid on products (often called "goods") coming into the country.

The customs agent stops when checking the diapers on the boat and turns to the crew, "Sorry, there's been a change in tariffs and we have to apply a 27.5% tax on the value of these goods."

The boat crew doesn't like it and frowns, but pays the tax so the diapers are able to get onto a train and head to HQ for sale.

A few days later, the train pulls up at HQ and the cases of diapers are loaded into the warehouse for sale. As the store is updated the tariff is noticed - "Our costs are higher? Why? Tariffs?" ask the grown-ups.

After a long meeting the grown-ups made an announcement "We are being forced to pay more to sell diapers, so we'll need to make some updates to keep our business healthy."

Updates to Diaper Purchases

Tariffs are applied to products being imported into a country and are imposed by and paid to the receiving country's government. Tariffs are not paid by the sending country. Tariff costs are passed down to the business and increase their overall costs. The impact can vary - large companies can often absorb the cost with little effect, whereas small companies (like PretendAgain) cannot absorb the tariffs without going out of business. 

Tariffs have been placed on the materials in diapers. To account for this, a new item will appear on any diaper order called "Trump Tariff Surcharge" and show the specific amount which was added to the diapers by the current US Government administration.

This 3-point path has been chosen with our customers in mind: 

1) We want to make it clear the Tariff surcharge is not money that is in any way used to increase PretendAgain's financial benefit. It is our belief that raising our diaper prices for a temporary cost fluctuation invites prices to permanently stay higher, which is not in the long-term interests of the ABDL community;

2) To make it clear where this added cost is coming from and why the Tariff surcharge is on your purchase that includes diapers;

3) To respect your Trust in us by being as transparent as possible, in line with our company values. In the event these tariffs are lifted, you will see the surcharge removed. We plan to review our restock tariffs and adjust the surcharge as necessary to keep PretendAgain afloat while tariffs are added or increased from our manufacturers abroad.

Make no mistake, nobody wins when these adjustments are necessary. This decision was made with extreme consideration and thought by our team. We look forward to when the surcharge is no longer in effect.

Learn More

For more on tariffs you can check the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. For help with the schedule or latest changes, you should contact HTS. For a news article about tariffs see this article from The Verge. For the latest news on tariffs, check a reliable news source, such as the Associated Press or Reuters.