Category: General News

The ongoing trade war situation continues to change dynamically. As of yesterday, Trump has pulled back on some of the tariffs imposed on the rest of the world except China. We’re continuing to wait and see how the rest of the tariffs will play out. However there are some serious implications that consumers should know.

How to know if you’re paying too much in duties and tariffs

There has unfortunately been a big jump in mis-billed duties and tariffs from UPS brokerage, including charging duties and tariffs on:

• Shipments under $800USD that fall under deminimis
• Shipments that have items that are under USMCA and are tax exempt

If you get charged, don’t panic. We can help you. We have now established a process of pre-checking shipments to ensure that shipments do not get charged an unreasonable amount to clear before shipping, to make the process less stressful on your end. Unfortunately, there may be some charges, such as broker fees and tariffs on non-USMCA certified items, but we are working to keep the impact minimal.

If your shipment can be cleared without additional tariffs, we are marking them as DDP, which means that if there is an error on the broker side, we will pay the cost first so that we can dispute it directly, rather than needing to work through the customer.

When you order, you can check our list of items that are certified under USMCA here. Most items including:

• AltMills 2×4 and 4×4
• All versions of the LongMill
• All versions of the touchplate
• Vortex Rotary Axis
• LaserBeam
• gControl Panel Computer
• All versions of end mill sets

Items falling under the USMCA blanket certificate, as of time of writing, can cross into the US without paying duties and tariffs.

We have restricted the sale of some items, including the Makita RT0701 router as an individual item (Makita routers bundled with machines will still be able to ship without issues) and any t-shirts to the US by hiding them in the store to US customers as these items are likely to incur high tariffs and cause hold ups at the border.

UPS Brokerage changes at the US border

We just met with our UPS representative to go over a number of things.

First is that with so many changes happening so fast, there are a lot of mistakes happening in clearance for items. Here are some notes:

• With the new changes, UPS brokerage is handling an additional 150,000 submissions per day for customs. This is on top of what they have had in the past, which means that UPS brokers are working overtime and weekends. Because this brokerage is largely human driven, mistakes can be made.
• While in the past, shipments could reach the US and await customs clearance, goods are no longer allowed to enter into the US unless the clearance is complete in Canada. If any package in a truck or container does not have clearance already approved, the whole truck or container must be shipped back, causing additional delays in some cases.
• There has also been a huge jump in shipments returning back to Canada, because customers do not want to pay the new tariffs.

Given the ongoing situation, shipping rates are likely to be slower than usual. With the current situation, UPS has offered a reduction in our brokerage fee, which we are working on to acquire.

Starting May 2, 2025, the Trump administration intends to remove the deminimis exemption for shipments under $800USD for Chinese goods, which effectively puts a tariff on not just large shipments but small ones as well. This also includes products of Chinese origin entering the US from other countries, including Canada. This means that at the current time of writing, Chinese goods could have a 125% tariff imposed on them. This change is expected to put an even larger burden on brokerages as all shipments with Chinese goods will need to clear customs, regardless of how small it is.

As far as we can understand, this only applies to Chinese goods, which means that shipments containing non-Chinese originating products can still enter into the US under $800USD, tariff free. However, this may require us to adjust the type of product that we ship if they are originating in China.

Another round of news on tariffs is here! Let’s get right into it.

Changes to the current tariff situation

We’ll start off by talking about what the situation looked like back in March, then move into how things have changed since.

• While initially it seemed like there would be a 25% tariff on imported goods into the US from Canada, after a few days, it was changed to allow USMCA goods to continue to cross the border tariff-free as it had been before the trade war. This meant that a significant number of products we produce, including the AltMill and LongMill, could travel tariff-free.
• Although talks to remove or reduce de minimis were held, which allowed goods under $800USD in value to cross the border without tariffs and duties, this ultimately did not come to pass
• Items not under USMCA were subject to a 25% tariff.

While at first glance it seems a lot has changed, in our case, things appear to remain largely the same.

• Items under USMCA continue to be tariff-exempt as before for our products. This means that most major products, including LongMill, AltMill, and accessories, can travel without tariff.
• The $800USD de minimis rule still continues to apply, although talks have still continued in changing or abolishing this.
• Other items remain at a 25% tariff for Canadian goods not certified by USMCA.

For a full list of USMCA-certified items, please see this list.

Due to these specific circumstances, while we have had some minor issues dealing with the new tariffs, we have been avoid them for the most part. At the current time, there is no indication from the White House on when it expects to revisit these tariffs.

How the tariffs apply to everything else

While it seems like we’re able to dodge much of the repercussions of the trade war due to our specific circumstances, as we discussed in the previous post, this will have a widespread impact on the CNC market, especially for US producers. Just like the auto industry, parts used to build CNCs come from all across the world.

Newly imposed retaliatory tariffs on countries such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Australia, Malaysia, and approximately 60 countries, plus a 10% baseline tariff on imports that span on 185 countries, means that the cost to produce CNCs in the US will increase.

For example, the popular Masso controller used with several notable CNC producers in the US is produced in Australia, which will soon have a 10% tariff imposed. With previous tariffs and duties imposed for Chinese aluminum extrusion exports, we’ve seen growth in aluminum extrusion exports from Vietnam and Malaysia as new sources, but with increased tariffs of 46% and 24% means that producers using materials from these countries are also facing added costs. Things like carbide material from Germany used in the CNC industry is expected to have a 20% tariff and Taiwanese bearings and linear motion components will have a 32% tariff. But most importantly, with an additional 34% tariff added to the existing 20% tariff on China, the largest source for CNC parts and materials, the cost of producing CNCs is expected to increase across the board for US producers.

The point here is that in our market, simply buying USA-made won’t be the solution for consumers to get around the tariff, especially when costs for US producers are expected to rise as well. While Trump is pushing the narrative that tariffs will protect American jobs and the economy, it isn’t without some compromises. Additionally, if other countries put in reciprocal tariffs, it is likely to affect CNC demand for US-built machines, adding to the pain to US manufacturers.

In some ways, this trade war puts Canadian CNC manufacturers in an even stronger position, such as us, where USMCA laws, plus the fact that duties on importing goods from across the world necessary for CNC manufacturing are cheaper due to the added costs that come from tariffs. With current events in mind, even considerations for Canada to strengthen its economic relationship with China have been part of the discussion on the Canadian political stage.

Impact on our current business

As it stands now, since the imposition of tariffs, sales of our products have declined, but not completely. With 75% of our sales revenue coming from the US, there is hesitancy to order at this very moment due to the uncertainty of how much customers may need to pay to bring their machines across the border. Given that we are still unsure about whether new tariffs will be imposed, and with our current choice not to accept the added cost of the tariffs for machines shipping after March 4th, we expect sales to be slow until this policy changes.

Thankfully, with over 400 AltMills currently in the queue, and with plans to complete shipping of all 400 units in the next 8 weeks, it is a relief that we won’t have to face significant costs for the customers who ordered prior to our changeover from paying duties and taxes on behalf of the customer to having customers pay for customs at import back in March 4th.

At the end of the day, we are still trying to catch up with demand, and we expect lead times for AltMills to be long for some time. While in the short term, sales may be slower than what they would be without the trade war, I see this as an opportunity to catch up on our queue and focus more on our production side without being overwhelmed by sales. The plan is to prepare ourselves for another wave of orders for CNCs once the trade war resolves or find ways to restrategize around it. Additionally, while sales may not be where they could be, I would note that we have still seen a 50% growth in revenue between 2024 and 2025 year to date, allowing us to save some money to adapt to changes in the market.

It’s also important to remember how dynamic the economy is, and we should also consider:

• If demand for parts and products needed for our manufacturing drops across the board due to tariffs, will we be able to get lower pricing on materials?
• Will we see people lose jobs and move to start businesses instead of choosing to find new traditional work?
• Will labour costs in manufacturing go down or stay stagnant to allow for products to be made more affordably?
• Will some of our competition falter, growing our market share and dominance?

Even though in one area costs go up, the overall impact might be offset by other factors in the market.

In the long run, as long as our company stays diligent in development, production, and scaling, we’ll be able to weather the ups and downs of the economy. Canada continues to fight back in the trade war with reciprocal tariffs, and has continued to hold them in place until the US drops their tariffs as well. I expect this to be the case until the end of the trade war.

Confusion at the border

With such dramatic and fast changes, we’ve seen an uptick in customs and border issues. While we’re able to clear most shipments without a tariff, a number of customers have been charged incorrectly. Thankfully, with our direct contact at UPS, we’ve been able to resolve issues and have UPS issue refunds for shipments that were not cleared properly.

The fact of the situation is that much of the customs brokerage system is manually done and prone to error. While we do use EDI (electronic data interchange), which significantly streamlines the process, and as far as we understand, specific people in the UPS brokerage department are assigned to handle our shipments, human error can still happen.

If you run into issues with customs, please feel free to contact us, and we can help you resolve them.

Moving forward

We have been working with customers directly to help them navigate the tariff situation. It should be noted that at this moment, as long as products fall under our USCMA certification, they can cross into the US without tariffs. You may want to make a buying decision based on this.

We have now received parts to make a big push to clear the existing waitlist of customers. However, even as we ramp up production to 200 units per month, customers who place orders today will likely need to wait till June or longer to receive their orders. The situation may be different or change. For customers who are unwilling to pay tariffs, if the USMCA exemption is removed, we are advising customers to either place orders now and cancel their orders if a tariff is put into place, or wait until the trade war is over.

As the weeks have continued to pass, the tariff situation continues to unfold. We have continued to follow the situation closely to assess the impact on our company, customers, and community in general. Trump had initially planned to impose a 25% tariff on all goods moving between Canada and the US on Feb 4th. However, this was postponed to March 4th. On March 6th, Trump imposed exemptions on tariffs for products that fall under the USMCA trade agreements.

How does that impact current customers?

If you have placed an order already, prior to March 4, 2025 at 3PM, we will continue to uphold our promise to provide DDP or DAP incoterms for American customers (basically this means “delivery duty paid”, which means that the shipment will enter the US with us paying any duties and tariffs). We have continued to provide this as the default option since June 2, 2022. You can learn more about this in our previous article.

The main reason we can provide this is because most of our products, including the AltMill and LongMill are certified under the USMCA. For a full list of USMCA-certified items, please see this list.

Customers in Canada and other parts of the world will not be impacted by the trade war.

As of this moment, tariffs on goods that fall under USMCA will be exempt from US-Canada tariffs until at least April 2, 2025. This means that many machines shipping US-bound will cross without tariffs.

Additionally, we have not seen any changes to the de-minimis. Orders under $800USD may still be imported from Canada to the US without duties and taxes due to the De Minimis Value threshold.

As of this moment, although it is possible the trade disputes will be over, it is not clear what the outcome will be. For the time being, new customers purchasing March 4, 2025 at 3PM may be required to pay tariffs if they are imposed. However, we are currently assessing the impact of potentially offering a subsidy to the tariff if they are imposed to reduce the impact to the customer. If that is the case, we will provide support for all customers to navigate through the tariff situation and provide proper customs documentation and filings for import to US. Latest updates will be provided here.

If a tariff is imposed and you are required to pay for it, duties and taxes will be assessed at the border and you will receive a customs invoice prior to delivery. If you need help navigating, please feel free to contact us.

How this impacts the wider hobby CNC industry

We expect that tariffs that have been in place previously and new ones that are currently being imposed will hurt the accessibility and pricing of nearly all items in the North American hobby CNC industry. The tariffs imposed by the US have had an impact due to Section 301 for Chinese goods years prior to this trade war in 2025 which imposed tariffs ranging from 10-25%. This current trade war imposes additional tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the US of 20% currently.

It is no secret that significant volumes of materials and parts come from China and other areas overseas. US and Canada oftentimes lack the technology or capacity to make components at an affordable cost of high quality. We have oftentimes tried to work with Canadian and US manufacturers, only to find out that a significant portion of their manufacturing is already done overseas. Additionally, for certain products, such as aluminum parts, China provides a rebate for exports, which makes it significantly (around 60% less expensive) to produce certain parts overseas, which makes it an attractive option over producing domestically.

From my last visit to China, and in response to the tariffs, manipulating customs values for Chinese to USA imports is almost universally rampant. Discussions with some other CNC manufacturers in the US also noted that they are using different loopholes to get around higher taxes and tariffs. I expect that many companies will look for new ways to mitigate the impact of tariffs and taxes, which may soften the blow of costs passed down to the consumer. However, these factors still greatly impact most US CNC producers.

New sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the US are also expected to impact costs for CNC machines in the US, especially since most CNC machines are made from steel and aluminum. For context, the US imported 3.2 million tons of aluminum from Canada alone last year, compared to around 785,000 tons produced domestically in the US, or approximately one-quarter of the total amount imported from Canada. Even if the trade war doesn’t last that long, job cuts in the industry in preparation for the tariffs is expected to cause ripple effects in the industry regardless, which may increase prices for materials in the short term as well.

New tariffs imposed in 2025 affect Canadian producers as well. While current exemptions for USMCA-qualified products provide a short break from this, a full imposition of tariffs will mean that the cost for US customers to import their CNC machines from Canada will jump. Based on Canadian imposed tariffs, Canadian customers importing CNC machines from the US may also find their costs to increase as well.

The silver lining is that we need to be more creative in bringing manufacturing back to Canada to control costs. Over time we hope that the cost of production and our production ability in North America develop. We also hope that some of the technology we develop can be used for creating this future as well.

What’s next?

We are hoping that the trade war will end before April 2nd when Canada, Mexico, and US will revisit the exemptions on USMCA products. We are continuing to monitor the news and plan on how to navigate these tariffs to minimize the impact to us and our customers. For further updates, please see our blog.

Hey there! Disclaimer: This is a guest blog article, the views and opinions expressed in this guest post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of Sienci Labs.

Creating a flawless V-carve inlay may seem intimidating, but this step-by-step guide will simplify the process, even for beginners. With no overcomplications and no need for CNC expertise, you’ll be crafting detailed inlays in no time.

If you want to watch the full video on youtube click here.

Understanding V-Carve Inlays vs. Straight Flute Inlays

Before diving into the process, it’s essential to understand how V-carve inlays differ from traditional straight flute inlays.

• Straight Flute Inlays involve pocketing material with a straight bit and inserting another piece of wood into the pocket. However, they limit fine detail work due to the bit’s diameter.

• V-Carve Inlays, on the other hand, use a V-bit that cuts at varying depths and angles, allowing for intricate designs. The angled cuts form a tight bond between the male and female parts of the inlay, providing a seamless and professional finish.

What You’ll Need: Tools & Materials

Materials:

• Female Material: Light colored hardwood for the base (1.7” thick) 
• Male Material: Dark colored hardwood for the insert (0.6” thick)
• We’re using the maple and walnut inlay kit from CICWorkshop. These premade endgrain boards are the perfect size and ready to use without the extra prep work. Link: https://cicworkshop.com/collections/inlay-kits/products/inlay-top-bottom
  • Tip: Due to the direction of the wood, endgrain has the best texture for V-Carve inlays.

Bit Selection:

• 3/16” Upcut Bit: For clearing the bulk of material before adding final details. Link: https://cicworkshop.com/collections/bits/products/3-16x-3-4-upcut-1-4-shank-uc2875
• 30 Degree V-Bit: To finish carving the image with accuracy and precision. Link: https://cicworkshop.com/collections/bits/products/30-deg-v-groove-3-flute-1-4-shank-vsc30
• Make sure to use the same bit on both sides of your inlay to ensure both pieces fit together securely

Recommended CNC Machine:

• We are using the Altmill CNC, it’s reliable and cost-effective. Affiliate Link: https://www.sienci.com/?ref=zte3ztn

Digital File:

• Design your own or Use this free digital file from CICworkshop.com Link: https://cicworkshop.com/collections/digital-files/products/deer-inlay-digital-file

Step 1: Program the Female Inlay Piece

• Set your design in the CNC software (e.g., an 18×12-inch scene or any custom design).
• Apply a flat depth of 0.25 inches for the V-carve.
• CNC Settings:
  • Feed Rate: 80 inches per minute
  • Plunge Rate: 50 inches per minute
• Add a Clearance Toolpath: Use the 3/16-inch up-cut bit for faster material clearing.

Step 2: Program the Male Inlay Piece

• Mirror the Design: To ensure a perfect fit when assembled.
• Key Parameters:
  • Glue Gap: 0.02 inches (provides tolerance for minor errors and prevents hollow sounds).
  • Plug Depth: 0.23 inches (pocket depth minus glue gap).
  • Surface Gap: 0.1 inches (prevents glue from sticking to the base, making sanding easier).
• CNC Settings for Male Inlay:
  • Use the same bits and settings as the female inlay to ensure consistency.

Step 3: CNC Cutting Process

Once your design is programmed it’s time to start carving your Inlay:

Carving the Female Inlay:

1. Secure the base material to the CNC table using clamps.
2. Start with the 3/16-inch up-cut bit for clearing material.
3. Recalibrate the Z-zero point before switching to the 30-degree V-bit for detail work.

DON’T FORGET: Each bit is different length so remember to set your Z-zero after switching bits. X and Y zeros remain the same because the material stays in the same spot.

Carving the Male Inlay:

1. Secure the insert material to the CNC table.
2. Use the 3/16-inch up-cut bit for clearing.
3. Follow up with the 30-degree V-bit for detailed engraving. (Remember, reset your Z-Zero)
4. Cut the male inlay and carefully remove any tabs.

Step 4: Assembly and Gluing

1. Check for Debris: Ensure no large wood chunks are left in the pockets to achieve a proper glue-up. Use a stainless steel steel brush and/or compressed air to remove any debris.
2. Dry Fit: Test the fit before applying glue. A 0.1-inch surface gap should be visible, which will compress when pressed.
3. Apply Glue:
   • Use a high-quality wood glue like Titebond II or III.
   • A silicone brush works well for spreading glue evenly in all crevices.
   • Ensure every detail has glue coverage to avoid weak spots. Tip you can insert the male piece and remove it to ensure all contact point are covered in glue.
4. Pressing the Inlay:
   • Use an inlay press for even pressure. You can make your own press with this file from CIC Workshop
   • Alternatively, a piece of plywood with weights or C-clamps will work.

Step 5: Surfacing and Finishing

1. Surfacing the Top:
   • Use the 3/16-inch up-cut bit to surface the top, removing the 0.1-inch surface gap.
   • The CNC should follow a simple rectangular toolpath for uniform surfacing.
2. Sanding and Edging:
   • Sand the surface for smoothness.
   • Add desired edges or chamfers for a refined look.
3. Finishing:
   • Dip the board in mineral oil to enhance the wood’s natural beauty.
   • Apply additional finishes as desired for durability and aesthetics.

Step 6: Final Reveal and Resources

The digital file for the deer scene used in this guide is available for free at cicworkshop.com. Download it and follow the steps outlined here to create your own stunning V-carve inlays.

With the right tools, materials, and this straightforward guide, crafting detailed and professional V-carve inlays is entirely achievable. 

Remember: If you ain’t cutting it close, you ain’t cutting it right.