Angry Robots! is made in Canada, by a Canadian, and packaged entirely with materials produced in Canada. The floppy disk containing the game was actually imported into Canada from the USA.
If you’re ordering from the United States, you’ll notice an additional fee of $2.08 CAD added to your order at checkout called “USA tariff-related fees.” This fee is applied to all U.S.-bound shipments to cover the costs associated with administering tariffs and other fees imposed by the U.S. government on shipments entering the country from Canada.
I am not a tariff expert, and U.S. trade rules are changing constantly. It’s difficult to keep up, but in the interest of transparency, I want to explain what these fees are and why American consumers are now paying them.
Why There Are New Fees
Canada and the U.S. have a free trade agreement called CUSMA in Canada and USMCA in the U.S. Prior to August 29, 2025, American consumers also enjoyed a “de minimis” duty-free threshold for shipments valued under $800. This allowed Americans to purchase products online easily and affordably, and without Canadian companies having to do complicated paperwork.
This all changed on August 29, 2025, when the U.S. suspended the de minimis exemptions. Postal services worldwide had to quickly adapt to comply with the new U.S. rules.
Another key change was that the USA no longer allows shipments into the country as “Destination Duties Unpaid”. This means a package cannot arrive with an invoice for tariffs waiting for the recipient. The U.S. now only accepts “Duties Pre-paid” shipments, meaning the shipper must pay any tariffs or duties upfront to ensure that the recipient receives their package without extra charges. This is likely because the US President has been adamant that Americans will not pay tariffs, foreign companies will. If you got your package, along with a bill for the tariffs that were imposed by US Customers and Border Patrol, that doesn’t work with that narrative.
But to be clear – tariffs imposed by the U.S. Government are paid by U.S. consumers. But instead of that being transparent, the fees have to be hidden in the price of the product in other ways. I don’t agree with that. I think people should know exactly how much I’m being paid when they buy my game, and they should know who else is imposing fees on their order and what they are for. And I’m definitely not willing to increase the cost of my game to cover the cost of U.S. tariffs. Not only is that not transparent, but it would not be fair to consumers from every other country on Earth, who should not have to pay higher prices because the USA has imposed new tariffs.
Software and Tariffs
Interestingly, software – or as the trade lawyers lovingly call it, “Prepackaged software for automatic data processing machines, of a kind sold at retail” – entering the U.S. is not subject to any duty or tariff. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection now inspects every package entering the country to ensure compliance with constantly changing tariff rules, and charges $1.35 USD on every package entering the U.S. to cover the costs of doing that.
As a result, the $2.08 CAD “USA tariff-related fees” on your order includes:
Merchandise Processing Fee: $1.87 CAD ($1.35 USD) – charged by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on all packages entering the United States, regardless of whether tariffs apply.
Shipment Items Fee: $0.21 CAD – charged by my shipping company to cover the cost of completing paperwork for shipping to the U.S.
Learn More
If you’re interested in the broader context of tariffs and how they affect the cost of goods for American consumers, here’s a helpful overview:
Everything you want to know about Canada-U.S. tariffs – CBC News