US Tariff & Order/Preorder Updates (2)

Now that we have had a week to see how shipping goes, we have more information we can share with you. As things continue to unfold, it's become clear that the tariffs themselves are not the biggest issue at hand. Rather, everything else that comes into play because of the tariffs.

Despite our products qualifying for CUSMA tariff-free status, all packages imported into the US are still required to be processed with a formal entry which was previously not required when entering the US under 'de minimus'. With Fedex, their additional fees are unreasonably high (at least $109 per package, regardless of package value - yes even a package with ONE item would see this) and something we do not want to pass along to our customers, nor is this something we can absorb as a business. This is completely separate from the tariffs themselves.

In our last update we said we would be upgrading and shipping with FedEx. We decided this because we had created and submitted our documents for tariff-exemption and FedEx was the courier that accepted this and allowed us to ship exempt packages, whereas Canada Post does not allow for tariff-exempt shipments at this time. For most shipments that are currently in FedEx's hands, we have been informed that regardless of their value or exemption status, they are being charged the fees mentioned above. These are fees that are charged to us as a business, not the customer, putting us in a position where we would quite literally lose less money by simply refunding orders rather than paying these astronomical fees (it would cost us an extra ~$11,000+ per 100 packages!).

The second issue with FedEx is that they have begun holding up parcels because they decided to flag them for steel and aluminum tariffs, even though this does not apply to our products. This is a brand-new thing that has never happened before (even though the steel and aluminum tariff has been in place for months) and curiously only happened when we provided them with the CUSMA tariff exemption documentation.

We are currently trying to get more clarity on the FedEx fees, because from our research, some of these should not be charged. We're also working on integration with Canada Post's new system (which by the sounds of it should have lower fees on average than FedEx), however they are requiring mandatory tariff charges to ship and deliver parcels. We are actively trying to discover if this payment is required prior to creating shipping labels, or at the border. The latter of which we are hopeful that by including our tariff-exemption documentation, tariffs may indeed be bypassed altogether. If that is not the case, the incurred fees are a cost that we unfortunately have to pass along to the customer.

As you can imagine, getting a hold of anyone on the phone or email, with accurate information is very difficult these days. Many customer service agents are just as confused or in the dark as we are. In a sense, we are at the mercy of who we get connected with and how quickly they can answer questions or sort out technical issues. Multiple people at Clionadh have been working on this daily to find the best possible solution. Until this is fully sorted, we have temporarily removed US shipping options from our website. Our current priority is to find the best method to get both preorders and outstanding US shipments to their final destinations. Trust in us that we remain transparent and will always try and find the best solution for our customers.

While preorder production is going smoothly on our end, it is the shipping side of things with all these tariff complications that continues to create delays. We ask for grace during this time as we continue to work on this. As a result, US preorders will not be shipped within the original timeframes we set forth on the website.

We will also be emailing each person with an outstanding US preorder or standard order personally with an update. Preorders outside of the US will continue to be shipped as normal, so keep an eye out for your tracking.

Currently, all outstanding orders with us were either placed after tariffs took place, or were preordered prior, with the timeline of shipments post-tariffs. Therefore, if you would like to:

1. Avoid the uncertainty by having your order held at our warehouse for the time being until we can give more concrete information on charges;
2. Or would rather pay additional tariffs/fees to get your order anyways (an invoice would be sent with whatever option would incur the lowest of charges based on your order);
3. Refund an order;

Then please reach out to our Customer Care Team via email:
customercare@clionadhcosmetics.com. We're happy to hold orders for as long as needed.

This is not the update we were hoping to give you, and it could all change entirely over the next couple days or months as the Supreme Court undergoes tariff hearings. But we felt we needed to give you as much information as we could from behind-the- scenes.

As we continue to investigate this from all possible angles, we thank you for your understanding and patience during these uncertain times for Clionadh. More updates will follow.

With love and optimism,
~ Maggie & Leigh