Went to order parts from Mike's Reel Repair today.
Website notice.
Temporary Suspension of Shipments to the USA
A Quick Message For Our U.S. Customers
Hello to all our friends in the United States,
We have some tough news to share. For now, we have to stop all shipping to the U.S.
This was a very hard choice for us to make. We love our U.S. customers—you make up a big part of our business! We've built great friendships with so many of you over the years.
Lately, new government rules and taxes have made shipping to the U.S. very expensive. When your package arrives, you might get a surprise bill for extra fees. These fees can be very high, and we don't think that's fair to you.
We are working hard to find another way to ship to you. But if these new rules stay, we might have to stop shipping to the U.S. for a long time. This could even mean we have to close our shop for good, which would be heartbreaking.
Want to help? Here's what you can do:
Contact your government leaders. Ask them to bring back the old rules that let small packages cross the border easily, without big extra fees.
Talk to your local fishing shops and the companies that make your reels. Ask them to also tell the government that these rules are important.
Reach out to the big shipping companies (like UPS and FedEx). Let them know that their extra fees are just too high for packages from other countries.
Speak up! Fishing is important. It helps families put food on the table, helps people relax, and helps the planet by letting us repair our gear instead of throwing it away.
If you already have an order with us:
We would be so grateful if you could stick with us and keep your order open. We know this is a big ask, and we completely understand if you need to cancel. There are no hard feelings at all. We're just really hoping this gets fixed soon so we can get your parts to you.
If you have any questions, please send us a message.
We truly hope to be back to helping our U.S. customers very soon. Until then, we wish you good health and tight lines.
All the best,
Auspost has also restricted shipments to the US except for limited, low price, non-commercial items. I think it is going to take awhile to get things back to "normal" unless some people extract their craniums from their nether regions soon.
I thought politics wasn't to be involved on this forum. Why don't the folks at Mike's Reel Repair contact their government and have it come to terms with our government. Or continue with what their doing and see how long they go on without a US market. I look at it as an opportunity for some entrepreneur in the US to step up and fill the void they believe they are creating.
Quote from: OhReely on October 01, 2025, 08:11:05 AMI thought politics wasn't to be involved on this forum. Why don't the folks at Mike's Reel Repair contact their government and have it come to terms with our government. Or continue with what their doing and see how long they go on without a US market. I look at it as an opportunity for some entrepreneur in the US to step up and fill the void they believe they are creating.
It's not politics, it's tariffs! Some seem to have a misunderstanding as to who pays!
I think you have to look at what was going on before the tariffs to see the truth of who was actually getting screwed. Now that it affects other countries & businesses it is all of a sudden different,because? I believe someone has gotten their head out of their nether region-finally.
"there's only so far up there it can go before it comes out the other side, right? We don't have to pull our heads out! Keep shoving!"
-Current foreign policy
If people actually wanted to work & cared about what they get paid to do.That doesn't seem to be the "Norm" most do have their heads up there it's hard to get anything done like that ;D Hence,we have to import from countries that do still work hard...
Time out.
I don't at all feel sorry for Mike's Reel Repair. Fifteen plus years ago I tried ordering parts from them multiple times with no return response. I finally gave up and decided to avoid them like the plague. They don't even come to mind as a parts supplier for me nowadays. It seems to me like a good viable business entity would try to figure out how to make things work rather than whining about perceived obstructions and obstacles and then trying to get other people to do their work for them. There are many of us that support level playing fields and US 🇺🇸 manufacturing as a priority, no matter the costs or expense.
It's not just Mike's Reel Repair and not just Canada. The whole world of small business had to adjust the way they deal with U.S. customers when the de minimis exemption was removed. That not only made small international transactions more expensive, it made then an inconvenient pain in the butt for both sides to deal with. Remember, the main reason the de minimis exemption was created in the first place was because the tariff revenues tiny orders generate was not worth the effort to collect and administer them. The whole issue seems to be less about tariff revenue for the U.S. and more about gamesmanship.
gentlemen, thank you for your input.