25% tariffs on pinball machines & parts lifted

[Mike@PinballMedics]

September 1, 2025 – Ottawa, ON. The 25% tariffs on pinball machines and parts are gone. As of today, everything under HS Code 9504.50.00 is back to zero duty. We’ve already removed the charges from our pricing and the savings are live. Thank you to everyone for your patience while we worked through this.

See our website for all the details here: https://pinballmedics.ca/canada-removes ... s-pinball/

[Azatotht]

This is an extremely good news !

[cait001]

Is there a press release from the Government about this, or a news article? I'm curious as to the extent of what has happened but I'm not seeing mention elsewhere.
Is it just this category changing?

[Azatotht]

Is there a press release from the Government about this, or a news article? I'm curious as to the extent of what has happened but I'm not seeing mention elsewhere.
Is it just this category changing?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/most-r ... -1.7620036

[cait001]

Wait wait, Carney is just gifting this concession to Trump, in the hopes that he can now have reasonable negotiations?
Ok Charlie Brown, let's just get the football ready, I'm sure you will be able to kick it this time.

That aside, yay for pinball purchases!

[cap]

I thought Canada was doing reciprocal tariffs and the USA did not have tariffs on NAFTA-2 compliant goods. I did not confirm this though.

[Mike@PinballMedics]

The tariffs were certainly removed in part to allow a deal, for what it will be worth. But there are several reasons, including the fact that the U.S. did not tariff CUSMA compliant goods at any time, while the Canadian Government assigned reciprocal tariffs to many CUSMA compliant goods, which put Canada in violation of said trade agreement with the US & Mexico, which allows the U.S. to terminate the agreement as per it's own verbiage. This would not bode well for Canada as the vast majority of the products we export to the U.S. are still and have been free of duties and tariffs since NAFTA was established in 1994.

The 25%, 35%, 1500%, or whatever number is floating in the winds South of us does not really affect most of us directly for now. That’s why, despite all the tariff drama, ~85–92% of Canada-U.S. trade by value was always tariff-free . Especially energy, but also most goods where firms file CUSMA origin. Sectoral U.S. tariffs like steel, aluminum, and autos are still horrible for Canada. The mostest horriblest some might say. But pinball isn’t in those sectors. Pinball was just an unlucky bounce onto the list of reciprocal items on March 13th, and now it's not.

But wait! There's more!

Not to get too exited, the uncertainty is not over, there is the six-year joint review of CUSMA in 2026. With provisions. Those provisions— not a finding of “violation” (Article 34.7) —are what give the U.S. leverage to threaten termination or renegotiate at their whim.

But for the time being, I accept this as a win for Canadian Pinball Culture, and by extension all of Pinball Medics' business operations, as well as all the other Canadian businesses that were collateral damage in the Trade Wars.

I just placed my Monday US parts orders this morning, and I will see in a couple of days if what they say is in practice with CBSA and our shipping partners.

[cait001]

"hello I'd like to order 3,000 Gottlieb drop targets YOU HEARD ME RIGHT, STEVE!!!"

[Mike@PinballMedics]

We have yet to receive the first batch of this weeks shipments, but have confirmed with Fedex that everything under HS Code 9504.50.00 is back to zero duty, and as such our current shipments are also. We will confirm once they arrive and import fees are paid in full, which should be tomorrow.

The Canadian Government has updated their public reciprocal tariff list as of September 1st here: (https://www.canada.ca/en/department...t ... riffs.html), and Fedex is on the same page.

Sales are crazy since Sep 1, but we did not deplete our inventory through the Trade War and are packing non-stop, and we are still up to date with most orders leaving same day.

[zebulon]

Maybe I'm missing something obvious here but aren't pinball machines and parts specifically covered by 9504.30.00.20 / 9504.30.00.60 ?

https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=950430

[Mike@PinballMedics]

Maybe I'm missing something obvious here but aren't pinball machines and parts specifically covered by 9504.30.00.20 / 9504.30.00.60 ?

I only listed one tariff code, but for clarity, I can confirm each of the following tariff codes apply to Pinball Machines or parts thereof, and were subject to 25% reciprocal tariffs from March until September 1st of this year;
9504.90.00
9504.50.00
9504.40.00
9504.30.00

They all share the same Harmonized System Chapter (Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof) and Heading (Video game consoles and machines, table or parlour games, including pintables, billiards, special tables for casino games and automatic bowling equipment, amusement machines operated by coins, bank notes, bank cards, tokens or by any other means of payment), with minor variations in the Indicative description.

If you're not sure, this is the definitive official Government of Canada list of reciprocal tariffs: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-fin ... riffs.html

From there you can select the tab for rates before or after September 1st, and see what was and what is no longer subject to said reciprocal tariffs.

[fast_in_muskoka]

Does anyone know if there is a duty / tariff for selling pinball parts ( NOS - orig. mfg in USA ) from Canada to south of the border to USA ?