Important Update: Trump Tariffs and Upcoming Price Adjustments

This is CY, founder of Kyuseido, writing to you today. 

First of all, I want to personally thank you for all your support for our mission at Kyuseido. We are here to create beautiful and functional products to help you connect with our global collective heritage and to write your legacy. 

As we run this business, we want to take it seriously because we believe that you deserve our 100%. Running a business is not easy and running a successful business requires honesty and integrity. We do our best here at Kyuseido to speak to you with authenticity, but the truth isn’t always pleasant. Unfortunately, it is still a message that we must deliver to you in light of the news and trends of the current era.

Trump Global Tariffs

Let me first address the most recent piece of news that will affect a lot of you, which is the global tariffs that US President Donald Trump and his administration has decided to enact.

These tariffs will impact Japan and Japanese products that are sold into the United States.

These tariffs present a challenge for Kyuseido, not because we will have to pay more to sell into the United States, but because our United States based customers will have to pay a hefty import fee (tariff) to receive their packages. As of today, it looks like that import fee (tariff) will be around 34% of the retail price for all goods imported from Japan.

Understanding that this additional tariff on Kyuseido products will bring the pricing of already costly goods into nearly unaffordable territory, our team has been working on a solution for our US based customers. Working with our partners in the United States, we will be changing our fulfillment logistics for orders placed from the United States only. Customers who choose to ship their products to a United States address will now have an additional option to have their orders fulfilled from our US based partner. What this entails is us shipping out orders from Japan to the United States weekly, and then our partner will ship your order to your US address via USPS. While this increases our logistical and financial burden, it will help maintain the non-tariffed price to the end consumer: you. However, this does mean that it will take longer to fulfill your order. We expect this to add approximately 10 days to the fulfillment time, which means that if you chose this option, you can expect the shipping date to be within 20 business days from your order. This option will be available effective immediately and we will continue to try to find the best way to serve you, our customer. 

What this means for US based customers:

You will have an additional shipping option to ship from our US based location, but it will take 20 business days for fulfillment.

You can still choose the existing direct shipment options, but you will be responsible for paying the additional tariffs that have been mandated by President Donald Trump and his administration. You will still have the choice between Japan EMS or FedEx, and the fulfillment target will remain 10 business days.

What this means for non-US based customers:

There will be no change for non-US based customers. 

Gold Prices

The truth of the matter is that gold prices have increased 62% since we started Kyuseido. This means that if it cost 100 dollars to produce gold nibs when we launched Kyuseido, it now costs 162 dollars to produce the exact same nib. Additionally, with a 4.7% cumulative inflation rate, it has become unsustainable for us to continue to subsidize these costs while still running a healthy business. 

Additionally, we expect financial markets to flee into safe assets during this time of market turmoil caused by the tariffs enacted by President Trump and his administration. Traditionally, this has meant gold, which means we expect to see a further increase in gold prices for the years to come.

Therefore, in order to match the current economic conditions to ensure that we can continue to make top quality products for you, we will be adjusting the prices for our standard models for all nib options.

This price adjustment will come into effect on 2025 July 1 and will impact the following standard lineup items. We are also making price adjustments to nib grinds. Special editions such as our Urushi Collection and our Layered Metal Collection will not be impacted by the price increase for the time being.