[Viewpoint] Vinyl and CDs exempt from US duties

November 2025 Editorial

Music is saved from the axe of new US tariffs

Author: Lucio Cadeddu - TNT-Audio Italy
Published: November, 2025

[Fahrenheit 451 - Doug Bradbury] There's no doubt that the “tariff war” has generated significant concern in the audio and music market in general: the impact on the pockets of citizens and businesses remains to be assessed, but in the meantime, there's some - partial - good news.

A few days ago, the US Customs and Border Protection confirmed that all so-called “informational materials” are exempt from the duties that apply to other product categories. Fortunately, informational materials include (for how long?) “movies, posters, phonograph records, photographs, microfilm, microfiche, tapes, compact disks, CD-ROMs, works of art, and editorial products.”

Therefore, our CDs and beloved vinyl records remain outside the Trumpian axe. The entire merchandising sector (T-shirts, posters, and so on), which accounts for a good portion of the music industry's total revenue, remains untouched. The so-called "de minimis" tariff, established by the US Congress in 2016, applied to this sector. This tariff provided for the non-applicability of duties to shipments valued at less than $800. Unfortunately, with an executive order dated July 30, 2025, the global suspension of the "de minimis" regime was ordered. From August 29, 2025, all commercial imports are subject to the ordinary regime, which provides for:

MFN duty
“Reciprocal” duty at the IEEPA rate applicable to the country of origin
Any other specific duties
Complete customs declaration via the ACE (Automated Commercial Environment) system, including tariff heading, value, origin, and commercial documents.

Temporary exception for postal parcels: for six months, shipments sent via official postal services can benefit from a simplified regime of their choice: duty calculated at the IEEPA rate or a flat rate per parcel (USD 80 - 200, based on the rate of the country of origin). At the end of the transitional period, postal parcels will also be subject to the full standard regime.

It is unknown how long “information materials” will be considered as such and not, instead, be treated as means of subversive propaganda. I'm not exaggerating: considering what's happening worldwide, one can truly expect anything. Let's not forget that all regimes, regardless of political color, have always sought to minimize the dissemination of ideas, through newspapers, books, and music. The two quintessential dystopian novels on this theme are undoubtedly Orwell's 1984 and, even more so, Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a beautiful novel that narrates a society in which books are banned and burned to suppress critical thinking and individuality. If you've never read it, do it now.

Did you enjoy this article? You can support our free, advertising-free magazine with a small Paypal donation using the button below. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER. TNT-Audio is neither a shop, nor a HiFi company or a repair laboratory for HiFi components. We don't sell anything. It is a 100% independent magazine that neither accepts advertising from companies nor requires readers to register or pay for subscriptions. If you wish, you can support our independent reviews via a PayPal donation. After publication of reviews, the authors do not retain samples other than on long-term loan for further evaluation or comparison with later-received gear. Hence, all contents are written free of any “editorial” or “advertising” influence, and all reviews in this publication, positive or negative, reflect the independent opinions of their respective authors. TNT-Audio will publish all manufacturer responses, subject to the reviewer's right to reply in turn.