#102

Got a message from one India-based reseller suggesting the India PO will begin shipments in the next week again.

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#103

Isnā€™t that what they said last week? :wink:

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#104

We are planning a trip to Texas this fall to visit family so I might have to cross the border into Mexico and visit a farmacia. Itā€™s crazy. Iā€™ve been ordering from various other countries for 11 years and never truly appreciated how easy and convenient it was until now.

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#105

I see a lot of mis-understanding of shipping logistics in that conversation.

DDP (Delivery Duty Paid) is how small parcels with a relatively low value will be handled. It goes like this,

  1. Customer initiates a purchase with a Vendor
  2. Vendor adds the broker fee and tariff/tax at the ā€œcheckoutā€
  3. Customer pays those up front to the vendor
  4. Vendor ships the parcel
  5. Vendor pays the broker fee AND the tariff/tax to the Broker
  6. Broker pays the government that applied the tariff/tax
  7. Customer receives their goods.

This is not new, this is how itā€™s been done on all commercial shipments Iā€™ve been involved in (in the 90ā€™s I shipped millions of dollars worth of med equipment from Canada to the US). One of the key components of the system is the HS codes required to import/export any item in international trade.

This means the vendor much have HS codes for their products. Without a code for each product they will not be able to export anything. Brokers will not handle a shipment without a HS code.

This means there must be a customs broker in the chain, either the vendors or the shippers broker will work. Itā€™s easier for small vendors to let the shipper deal with the fees. FedEx, DHL, UPS, etc all have this system in place and have had for decades.

The only ā€œnewā€ thing is the cancelling of de minimus that brings this complication to the average consumer who never dealt with tariff/tax before.

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#106

This is one reason you need a broker that understands your product and market. Shipping companies with their own brokerage system will help small vendors with this.

Here is what a company exporting pharmaceuticals has to come to grips with.

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#107

Sure - all of what you say may be true.

But the Indian pharma resellers donā€™t typically follow the rules that closely. What if they just put in some supplement HS code (for example HS code for glycine 2922.49.43.00), and call it a day. Ultimately it sounds like the personal exemption for medicine import might be gone now (Iā€™ve not dug deeply into the rule changes), but I also suspect that the Indian pharma resellers may just keep shipping and see what happens.

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#108

Any parcel that gets inspected by customs which does not match the HS code will be a significant issue.

The main driver of this complication is collecting the tax/tariff, if itā€™s not prepaid, DDP, then the receiving party has to pay and due to that, a very high number of parcels will fail on delivery. This is the current reason no one is shipping small parcels to the US now. DDP is the only viable option for shippers.

We are now in the realm of commercial shipping for import/export which is way different than de minimus requirements.

Because customs brokers will be involved now (de minimus skipped this step), vendors will be under more scrutiny.

There is a lot more paperwork than a simple shipping label. The broker has to approve you before you ship anything. They approve your HS code selection and you have to provide proof that you are using the correct HS code, like location of mfg, contacts at the mfg, regulatory compliance docs, etc. Brokers require verifiable documentation of goods that they will be responsible for. Once you have been approved by the broker you can ship all day long under that code because Customs has a certain level of trust in customs brokers.

Now you have a second set of eyes on your shipping and brokers do not like to be f*ked with. Screw them 1 time with a bogus shipment and their reputation with Customs is affected, then you will lose that broker and that shipping method and end up on a restricted list.

Not saying itā€™s impossible to do what you suggest but the hurdles are higher to be successful at this.

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#109

Boy, am I glad I loaded up on my pharma shipments from India before this madness exploded. By the sound of it, even trans-shipping through a third country may not solve this problem especially if itā€™s not just a matter of money/tariffs. If customs gets starchy about matching contents to declaration, thatā€™s a real problem, because with FDA cancelling personal exemption for small amounts of meds, you are now up the creek. Lie about content, get caught and shitstorm results, or declare truthfully and have it seized. You willing to pay more no longer matters.

Seriously, itā€™s amazing that, ahem, ā€œcertain votersā€ will stand for it and be shafted hard. I wouldā€™ve expected a lot of protest against this FDA overreach. People are buying meds for their health not drugs to get high. But I guess personal freedom doesnā€™t include being free to put medications in your own body, lol small government, SMH.

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#110

I am now a convert to the smaller government theory. :wink:

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#111

Thatā€™s a big ā€œIFā€. The Supreme Court, apart from Sotomayer, Kagan, Brown-Jackson, appear to be happy to disregard the Circuit Courts warning flares. Meanwhile I tried Push as Iā€™m running out of Rapa and getting panicked. Found a willing script writer but can only access small amounts at large prices. Would be grateful for any info re: work arounds.

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#112

The elimination of the de minimus process has been in the works since 2024 under Joe Bidenā€¦ all the current Admin did was move the end date from 2027 to 2025

de minimus has been an issue for longer than that.

Personally I never understood why it had such a high exemption value of $800. I think that made it a target once the whole online shopping thing took off 15 years ago. The lost revenue from duties and tax is staggering, considering 4 million parcels a day were entering the US under de minimus.

Even at $5 collected per parcel, that is $20M per day x 365 = $1.825B

Canada has something similar for duty free imports but itā€™s $20 per parcel LoL!

Collecting Duty, Taxes, and Fees at the time of import to the US is a significant revenue stream

A decent article on this topic

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#113

Iā€™m less concerned by the de minimus going away (itā€™s only money), than the new stance by the FDA - thatā€™s whatā€™s new in the regulatory environment of the current crew. Instead of further loosening of enforcement (and ideally relaxation of the rules themselves), there is tightening and stronger regulation. It might benefit the pharma industry and the PBMS parasites, but it will shaft hard those who rely on med imports to manage their health. Becoming more expensive is one thing, but losing access altogether is the real knife in the heart. It is becoming ever harder to be in charge of your own health. Instead you are being herded into the clutches of insurance companies, doctor lobbies and healthcare meat grinder. Money for them, death for you. Going in the wrong direction.

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#114

Everything seems to be on the trajectory of getting more expensive, and more difficult to obtain, for health and longevityā€¦

Health insurance costs in the United States are on track for their biggest jump in at least five years, according to multiple surveys, adding turbulence to an uncertain economy and boosting expenses for millions of Americans already beset by inflation.

In 2026, businesses will be hit with an increase of 9 percent or more and they are expected to push some of the burden onto employees, according to the research.

For the 24 million enrollees of Affordable Care Act insurance plans, however, the news is far worse. The end of enhanced federal subsidies for that program means that their costs are expected to rise by more than 75 percent next year, according to KFF, the nonpartisan health policy organization.

In explaining the rising prices, insurers and employers point to two recent factors: the tariffs on pharmaceutical imports being considered by the Trump administration and the high cost of new obesity treatments, called GLP-1 drugs.

News Story: Health insurance premiums poised to spike over drug costs, tariff threats

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#115

That is a serious problem for many.

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#116

Freedom ainā€™t free :eagle:

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#117

I hope this doesnā€™t mean we will have to pay a fortune to find a fringe doctor who will prescribe everything we ask for. Iā€™m not hitting the panic button yet though.

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#118

The fringe doctors are not even that expensive if all you want is a prescription. The medication itself is what is most expensive.

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#119

Thatā€™s one problem. But what of meds that are either not available here, or prohibitively expensive with no recourse to cheap Indian generics, especially those produced in India versions of new meds outside of the patent regimen for internal consumption? Obicetrapib is coming out one of these days, what if itā€™s some insane $ and not even prescribed for your indication? Used to be, youā€™d just buy from India, but now? And so on for any number of old or new meds. Iā€™m not panicking yet either, but I donā€™t like the signs - I try to act on approaching danger, not just wait until disaster strikes and only then scramble for a solutionā€¦ thatā€™s how I stocked up on my main meds to last me hopefully until 2030, and Iā€™m glad I did.

As I look at this situation, I see huge red flags. Weā€™ll see.

1 Like
#120

Well finding doctors who will prescribe things like Rapamycin and Acarbose is more of a challenge to me than whatever it would cost.

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#121

Sounds to me like Iā€™ll need to incorporate pitstop pharmaceutical tourism to get goods delivered with a big yearly purchase. Not ideal, and I should have done it this summer while abroad already. But thankfully have enough rapa to tie me over till next summer. Waited too long to get the tirzapetide & HGH from Chinese vendors and now weā€™ll have to see what pans out.

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