Tariff Information

Letter to Customers

Our Valued Customers,

The tariffs announced by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) under the Section 301 Action went into effect on July 6th, 2018. All items identified, as classified, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) with a country of origin of China are immediately subject to a 25% duty upon importation into the United States. See List 1, List 2, and List 3.

Digi-Key is in the process of developing our course of action and we have been reviewing and addressing many topics in order to achieve the best approach to fairly manage the impact of the tariff. Most importantly, we are focused on how to best serve and support our customers while minimizing disruption. We are working with the ECIA (Electronic Component Industry Association) to monitor any developments.

We are also working closely with our 800+ suppliers to determine the impact while addressing the most economical supply chain solutions as we adhere to the guideline of the law. Due to our inventory position, we may be able to delay the impact of the tariff as we monitor and control our order backlog.

At this time, Digi-Key is evaluating and is not consciously passing through price increases due to tariffs. However, we do not want to mislead you. Some tariff charges are being embedded in our acquisition cost and not delineated by the manufacturer; compounded by the fact that we are in a high demand phase for a number of electronic components that has already put cost pressure on manufacturers, resulting in a global price increase on certain components outside of the current tariffs impacting US customers.

We understand your concern and we want to assure you that we are currently monitoring the situation and exhausting all avenues to mitigate any impact or uncertainty in your designs or supply chain.

We appreciate your patience as we work through the details of the tariff increase and impact. As this is a complex and evolving process, we will continue to update this webpage with new information as it becomes available and encourage you to check back periodically.

Any immediate questions not answered in the FAQ can be sent to tariffs@digikey.com

Thank You.

Dave Doherty
President & COO
Digi-Key Electronics

Frequently Asked Questions

Any immediate questions not answered in the FAQ can be sent to tariffs@digikey.com

What parts are impacted by the new tariffs?

Section 301 identifies 818 product lines (based on HTS codes) that will be levied with an incremental 25% tariff: see List 1, List 2, and List 3. We currently do not have a complete list of part numbers available, however, our early review totals under 5% of the current stocking SKUs offered from Digi-Key Electronics would be subject to tariffs.

Will Digi-Key charge the tariff to customers and are prices going to change?

Digi-Key will not be implementing any price changes outside of the normal course of business due to tariff related issues at this time. However, some suppliers are implementing various means to pass thru these increases making it very difficult to delineate the specific portion attributed to the tariff.

When will Digi-Key begin/end billing customers for the incremental tariff charge?

We are working closely with our 800+ suppliers to determine the impact while addressing the most economical supply chain solutions as we adhere to the guideline of the law. Due to our inventory position, we may be able to delay the impact of the tariff as we monitor and control our order backlog.

What’s Digi-Key’s strategy for mitigating the tariff impact to the customers?

Digi-Key is in the process of developing our course of action and we have been reviewing and addressing many related topics in order to achieve the best approach to fairly manage the impact of tariffs. We are working closely with our 800+ suppliers and the ECIA (Electronic Component Industry Association) to minimize tariff impact on our customers, including filing for the exclusion of electronic components from the Section 301 list.

Are part lead times and availability impacted?

Due to our current inventory position, there is no change in lead time or availability at this time due to tariffs.

How is Digi-Key handling drawback requests from customers?

Duty drawback is a process in which an entity in the US, subject to the tariff, can apply to recoup the duty paid if the product is subsequently exported in its original form without any value-added processes performed to it. We are still in the process of gathering all the pertinent information from our suppliers and government agencies to review how duty drawbacks could be processed for customers, where applicable.

 
Last Updated: July 19th, 2018