Tariffs, De Minimis, and RC Prices in 2025–2026

Axial ring gear, bearing and housing screws on a workshop bench — SOURCE PHOTOGRAPH
Manufacturer workshop image: ring-gear assembly being removed from the Axial differential housing.
This is an Axial differential ring-gear assembly, not a spur-gear or universal bearing procedure.
Axial Adventure; Bender's AX10 Ridgecrest Stage 3 (photographer not identified) · Manufacturer copyright; permission required before public release
Photo credit & source ↗

From the September 2026 research edition. Product details and prices are dated source records; confirm the exact model and manual before buying or making changes.

If you have shopped for an RC car or spare parts since early 2025, you have probably felt it: higher prices and surprise changes to what ships where. Tariffs are a big part of that story, but not the whole story, and a lot of what gets repeated online has never been confirmed.

This post lays out what is actually documented about U.S. trade policy from 2025 through September 2026, and how it connects to the hobby. We cover the end of the "de minimis" duty-free exemption, the Supreme Court's February 2026 tariff ruling, the stopgap Section 122 tariff, the Section 301 tariffs that replaced it, and who can get refunds. We also flag the claims that rest only on forum posts.

One important note before we start: this is a plain-language summary for hobbyists. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Trade rules have changed repeatedly in this period and may have changed again since we published. If you import goods for a business, talk to a customs broker or trade lawyer.

Key takeaways

Duty-free "de minimis" treatment for low-value imports ended for China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025, and for all countries on August 29, 2025.

On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs.

A 10% global Section 122 tariff followed on February 24, 2026, and was replaced on July 24, 2026 by new Section 301 tariffs of 10–12.5% on 60+ economies.

IEEPA tariff refunds go only to importers of record, not to shops or consumers who bought from a distributor.

Reports of specific RC brand price increases in 2025 mostly come from forums and have not been officially confirmed.

Why tariffs matter so much for RC

Many RC cars sold in the U.S. are designed here but built overseas. In a May 2025 Marketplace report, Michael McEntyre, owner of Remote Control Hobbies near Baltimore, noted that most RC cars are designed in the U.S. but made in China. The same report quoted him saying, "There's a car that we carry that has increased $80 over the last month." The National Retail Hobby Stores Association told Marketplace that all of its members were seeing tariff-related cost increases.

A tariff is a tax paid by the importer when goods enter the country. The importer might be a big distributor, a hobby shop, or you, if you order directly from an overseas seller. Whether that cost shows up on the price tag, and how quickly, depends on each company's decisions.

The end of de minimis

"De minimis" is the rule that let low-value shipments (up to $800) enter the U.S. without duty. For RC hobbyists, that mattered most for small orders from overseas marketplaces: a spare motor, a set of tires, a cheap LiPo, a radio receiver.

Here is the confirmed timeline:

Date	What happened
May 2, 2025	De minimis ended for goods from China and Hong Kong
August 29, 2025	De minimis ended for goods from all countries
February 2026	After the Supreme Court's IEEPA ruling, the President reaffirmed the suspension by executive order
February 25, 2026	Postal duty rates changed to match the new 10% global tariff
June 24, 2026	CBP interim final rules took effect, suspending de minimis indefinitely
July 1, 2027	De minimis scheduled to be repealed by statute under the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act

The legal footing has been messy. The original suspension relied on IEEPA, the same law the Supreme Court later said does not authorize tariffs, and Supply Chain Dive reported that lawyers disagreed on whether the ruling undermined it. CBP's June 2026 rules rely on a different authority, 19 U.S.C. §1321(b). One rule covers all shipping modes except international mail, and a companion rule covers mail and sets up a new postal informal entry process. CBP cited 1.36 billion de minimis shipments in fiscal year 2024, which gives a sense of how many small parcels this affects.

What happened with Temu and AliExpress orders

On May 2, 2025, Axios reported that Temu stopped shipping directly from China to the U.S. and showed only listings from U.S. warehouses sold by local sellers. Temu said "pricing for U.S. shoppers remains unchanged." A third-party report cited by PYMNTS claimed Temu lost 58% of its U.S. daily users because of tariffs, but that figure was not checked against the underlying data.

What we could not confirm: any reputable reporting specific to RC parts bought from AliExpress or similar sites, such as duty charges at checkout on Hobbywing electronics, RadioMaster radios, generic LiPos or FPV gear, or sellers pausing U.S. shipping. You may see those stories on forums. We have not found them documented elsewhere.

The Supreme Court ruling: Learning Resources v. Trump

Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (No. 24-1287) was decided on February 20, 2026. The vote was 6–3, with Chief Justice Roberts writing the majority opinion and Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh dissenting.

The Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize tariffs. That struck down both the "reciprocal" tariffs and the fentanyl and trafficking tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. The Court did not give directions on refunds.

Section 122: the 150-day stopgap

Days after the ruling, a different law came into play. Section 122 allows a temporary tariff with a 150-day statutory limit. According to Skadden:

A 10% global tariff was imposed under Section 122 on February 24, 2026.
The 150-day limit ran out on July 24, 2026.
On May 7, 2026, the Court of International Trade ruled 2–1 that the Section 122 tariffs exceeded statutory authority.

That May ruling helped only the named plaintiffs, which included Washington State, Burlap and Barrel, and Basic Fun, a toy company. The government appealed, and the Federal Circuit granted a temporary stay on May 12, 2026. Grant Thornton reported that the appeal was set for proceedings in August 2026. As of September 17, 2026, we found no Federal Circuit decision.

Section 301: the replacement tariffs

When Section 122 expired, new tariffs arrived under Section 301. As of July 24, 2026:

New Section 301 tariffs of 10–12.5% apply to more than 60 economies.
China gets 12.5% on top of its existing Section 301 duties.
Law firm Honigman says this brings the "aggregate Section 301 tariff on Chinese imports to 37.5%."

Here is the catch for RC buyers. That 37.5% figure assumes a product is already on the earlier 25% Section 301 lists for China. Our research did not confirm whether RC models (which fall under tariff heading 9503) are on those earlier lists. So the effective tariff rate on a China-made RC car is unverified, and you should be skeptical of anyone quoting a single precise number.

Grant Thornton also said an open Section 301 overcapacity investigation "appears likely to lead to additional Section 301 tariffs" on China and others. More changes may be coming.

Refunds: who actually gets money back

After the IEEPA tariffs were struck down, CBP began processing about $166 billion in refunds, according to Greenberg Traurig. The first phase of CBP's "CAPE" system went live in late April 2026 and covers about 82% of eligible entries.

The practical point for hobbyists: only the importer of record gets a refund from CBP. If a distributor imported the RC trucks your local shop sells, the distributor is the importer. A shop that bought from that distributor would have to pursue the importer under their contract. Consumers who paid a higher shelf price generally have no direct refund path through CBP.

If you personally paid duties on a direct overseas order, whether you have any refund path is a question for a customs broker, not a blog post; our sources did not cover individual buyers.

What RC companies actually did (and what is unconfirmed)

This is where rumor and record get tangled. Here is what the research supports, with labels.

Report	Status
Horizon Hobby raised prices across its catalog around February 20, 2025	Forum reports only (ARRMA RC Forum). No official Horizon statement found; the tariff motive is unverified
Horizon's price changes were due to tariffs	Disputed on forums. Later posters pointed to continuing 15%-off coupons, a change in Horizon's MAP approach, and UK prices that reportedly did not rise
Traxxas, Tower Hobbies and Horizon stopped selling direct to Canada in late March 2025	Forum hearsay, from a user repeating an AMain notice. Canada's 25% counter-tariffs on U.S. goods took effect March 13, 2025
Traxxas announced a tariff price increase	Not found. No primary statement located
A Baltimore-area shop saw one car rise $80 in a month	Reported by Marketplace, May 8, 2025
Traxxas cut BL-2s prices and added a free battery and charger	Listed on Traxxas's news page, dated August 6, 2025

That last item is a useful reminder that prices did not only move one way. Promotions, anniversary models and new product lines (Traxxas launched its Velineon 3s Brushless Power System in June 2026) all affect what you pay.

Industry commentary also points to a slowdown in launches. A Big Squid RC opinion column said new releases slowed sharply by April 2025 amid tariff uncertainty and predicted a lull followed by a fall catch-up, summed up as "everything's gonna be alright…..just more expensive." A January 2026 Big Squid column described 2025 as "a transition year" spent "navigating tariffs," with "lingering production challenges" and "the long tail of coming out of the COVID-era boom-and-correction cycle." Those are opinions, but they match what many hobbyists noticed.

What to watch out for

Treating forum screenshots as announcements. A post saying "every single item I looked at has gone up in price" tells you what one buyer saw, not why.
Blaming every price change on tariffs. Coupons, MAP (minimum advertised price) policy, and new models can all play a role.
Trusting "compare at" prices. Some retailer "regular price" figures are well above the manufacturer's list price.
Assuming a single tariff rate for RC. The effective rate on RC models from China was not confirmed.
Expecting a refund as a consumer. CBP refunds go to importers of record.
Assuming overseas parts orders are still duty-free. De minimis has been suspended for all countries since August 29, 2025.

How to shop smarter right now

Check the manufacturer's own page for the current list price before judging a "deal."
For small parts, compare a domestic retailer's price with an overseas order that may now carry duties and fees.

FAQ

Did tariffs make RC cars more expensive?

Hobby shops told Marketplace in May 2025 that costs were rising, and one shop owner reported an $80 increase on a single car in a month. Specific brand-wide increases, such as Horizon's reported February 2025 change, are documented only on forums, and their cause is unconfirmed.

Can I still order RC parts from overseas duty-free?

Not under de minimis. It ended for China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025, and for all countries on August 29, 2025. CBP suspended it indefinitely from June 24, 2026, and a statutory repeal takes effect July 1, 2027.

Will I get a refund after the Supreme Court ruling?

Probably not directly. CBP refunds IEEPA tariffs only to the importer of record. Buyers further down the chain would have to pursue the importer under their contracts.

What tariff applies to RC cars from China now?

New Section 301 tariffs added 12.5% on Chinese goods from July 24, 2026. Whether RC models also carry the earlier 25% Section 301 duty was not verified, so we cannot give a reliable total.

Is the Section 122 case over?

As of September 17, 2026, we found no Federal Circuit decision on the government's appeal of the May 2026 trade court ruling.