This article does not in any way reflect the personal views of SHIRO! Media Group or its writers. On a separate note, this situation is evolving rapidly. Please take into account when this article was posted and updated.

Imported goods are a cornerstone of Sega Saturn collecting in the United States and other nations outside Japan. There are a lot of renowned Saturn games and accessories that only released in Japan. It is often said that buying the Japanese version of a game is more cost-effective than buying the American or European equivalent. Popular modern day Saturn optical drive emulators like Fenrir and SAROO are built abroad.

Such goods are potentially set to be more expensive, more difficult and perhaps impossible for U.S. Saturn fans to purchase.

So what happened?

In late July, the Trump administration set the “de minimis” exemption to end on Aug. 29 to close what it says is a loophole used to evade tariffs and funnel opioids into the country. The exemption allowed packages to be shipped to the U.S. duty-free if the item is worth less than $800.

The de minimis rule had already been eliminated for goods shipped from China and Hong Kong. The elimination now applies to all countries outside the U.S.

Based on what the White House posted to its website , international shipments could cost more in one of two ways: a duty equal to the tariff rate applied to the country of origin, or a duty ranging between $80 and $200 per item.

Citing a lack of clarity on how to comply with the new rules, shipping services in many countries have suspended shipments to the U.S. This includes Belgium, Germany and Japan. Royal Mail in the United Kingdom also put a pause on such shipments, though it intends to resume mail to the U.S. by Thursday. France is also indicating a disruption on U.S. shipments.

Japan Post wrote in a statement that the guidelines are not clear, “making implementation difficult.” DHL joined the others in restricting U.S. shipments: “The reason for these likely temporary restrictions is new processes required by U.S. authorities for postal shipping,” it wrote in its statement .

Will Americans pay more for imported Saturn games and gear?

On paper, yes. But exactly how this will occur is somewhat unclear. Technically, you cannot import any game from Japan right now — unless the seller uses a mail service that has not paused U.S. shipments.

As an example, let’s say you buy a copy of Goiken Moyen Anarchy in the Nippon for $30 with shipping online. Depending on which rule is applied, you may pay an extra $4.50 to account for the current 15 percent tariff. Or the seller may opt in to charging the $80 to $200 flat rate for the item.

People outside the U.S. can still send something marked as a “gift” valued at under $100 without duties. Many shipping services, such as Japan Post, mention this in their statements.

Another sticking point is how these items will be processed through U.S. customs when shipped. The apparent lack of clarity from the government is leaving international shippers and sellers confused on how to move forward.

This includes Ced, a French modder known for producing and selling the Fenrir optical drive emulator for Sega Saturn consoles. In short, it replaces the CD drive with a microSD card slot, allowing users to boot Saturn games loaded to the card.

We reached out to Ced. As of Tuesday, he does not know how this will be handled. He said the French postal service is still accepting shipments to the U.S. if they are gifts. Ced has recently shipped some Fenrir units to stateside customers, but it remains to be seen if they will be delivered. They are not giving him any more information.

“I have the impression that everyone is in mist,” he said.

Other countries have had import duties in place for some time. The de minimis rule made the United States an outlier in this regard, allowing Americans to enjoy a more affordable import scene. It remains to be seen if this rule will ever come back, or if import duties will ease up in the future.

Other subjects of note

Buyee, a Japan shopping proxy service, put out a statement on how it will move forward. A 20 percent “prepaid tariff rate” is being applied to U.S. orders. They are also suspending the shipment of food, beverages and other types of items.

Krikzz builds the line of Everdrive flash cart devices in Europe. Stone Age Gamer sells Everdrive devices in the United States. It is presumed these are sent in bulk by Krikzz to Stone Age Gamer. A price increase could be on the horizon. As of this article, we have not found a public statement from either entity concerning the recent shipping situation.

I ordered a Saturn Twin-Stick controller from a Japanese eBay seller on Aug. 24. The price was $90 with free shipping. This article will be updated with details about how this goes. As of this writing, it has not yet shipped.