How We Lost Our New [Big Island] Home To Trump's Illegal Tariffs

[HiloJulie]

Tang & Kane. Or Kane & Tang;

Isn't the information DF posted in his latest post discussing the EO tariffs issued under the IEEPA, recently deemed illegal by the SCOTUS the very SAME tariffs you have consistently ignored, refused to believe and have never acknowledged ever existing?

Wouldn't that be considered reckless disregard for the truth, or actual malice, or both?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Here’s another story by a Hawaii businessperson describing his real world experience with tariffs.  It doesn’t sound like he’s pushing an agenda on his keyboard, just struggling to keep the doors of his business open.

When tariffs began fluctuating, sometimes rising, sometimes changing with little notice, small businesses like ours were placed in an impossible position: Do we purchase now to secure inventory and stay in business, even if tariffs are high? Or do we wait, hoping tariffs will drop, risking product shortages?

If we wait and tariffs remain high, we lose shelf space to competitors.
If tariffs drop and we rush to purchase, supply may no longer be available.

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/03/who-re...r-tariffs/

Question for Punatang.
What exactly in Durian Fiend’s post made you ask the two questions you asked?  Which included a third question that you added,“both”, but not the fourth possibility “neither.”  Can you quote the phrases or sentences that directly pertain to each question you asked?  Because I’m having trouble connecting the dots.

[Durian Fiend]

Durian Fiend, given the information you shared in your most recent post, is it your assertion that Will Bailey's article was written with a reckless disregard for the truth, or actual malice, or both?

Did he ever respond to your email?

#2 - 3/10/26

He has not responded to my email. 

He's clearly been negligent in his reporting, IMO.  There were no specific dates or fees enumerated in his story, besides the $20K to $30K final price on the home.  No description of the home or a link to the manufacturing company-just nothing.  

I suspect he was impatient and inattentive to the shipping process of his home from China, given the seesaw tariffs in effect during  2025.  

If he's entirely telling the truth then it seems he suffered a worst case scenario. I believe it's entirely possible, but given the lack of documentation and not so subtle political slant I find his story lacking credibility.    Malice?  I wouldn't go that far.

[Punatang]

He's clearly been negligent in his reporting - Durian Fiend

Mahalo for your manao Durian Fiend.  My apologies to to The PunaWeb Ohana. Admittedly, my own bias precluded me from entertaining this fourth possibility.  

I like Will and I'm glad to consider that malice might be off the table.

Cheers,

Tang

[leilanidude]

I am beginning to believe that the container home was never ordered in the first place and any claimed monies sent never went to the Chinese company to begin with. Tariff increase provided a way for a sad story to be told to explain the missing money that was spent elsewhere.

[HiloJulie]

I am beginning to believe that the container home was never ordered in the first place and any claimed monies sent never went to the Chinese company to begin with. Tariff increase provided a way for a sad story to be told to explain the missing money that was spent elsewhere.

Might be on to something here Dude. 

If we are going to go down the road of the absolute most absurd speculations, my guess would have to be is that he invested all of the original 20K into setting up a MAGA Merch outlet store in Hilo, but when all the hats, bibles, cellphones, gold coins and flags from China arrived, there was that pesky added 10K in tariffs and knowing his customer base would never pay that much more for his merch, he lost it all.

Plausible YES. About as much as your spun yarn is, but hey, both scenarios are plausible.

Or maybe, Will's story, while short on various specifies, is true.

[ironyak]

It is interesting how those with the least understanding of how the China prefabs and tariffs work are also the most unwilling to believe Will's article. I have been hoping that Rob would chime in here given his expertise, but I guess he's busy walking the walk, while we're stuck talking the talk.

Having been in the room when one of these prefabs was ordered, and having helped set a couple of them up, I'll share my info to help explain why Will's tale of woe fits within the known facts.
1) @LD - These items do in fact require a several month lead time between order and arrival as they are built to order and allow for many customizations from door sizes and locations (single, double, single with sidelites, etc) to interior finishes like cabinet and counter materials and arrangements.
2) @WNK - The extra tariffs did in fact change, mostly the Country of Origin tariffs for China ranging from 20% to 135% to 45% throughout 2025, and the Steel tariffs ranging from 25% - 50%, which are added on top of the base tariff for metal prefabs from China. When these changes take place, the new tariff fees are applied when your already ordered item finally arrives at the Hilo port.
3) @DF - While the April tariff changes did offer a window out to late May before taking affect, Will's timeline or ordering around Sep 2024, and taking 8 months to build, means his item may not have shipped till June or later in 2025. If it was a worse case scenario his item would have arrived at the peak of the China tariff and had a 135% charge on his $20k shipment (at least $27k in tariff fees!)
4) @PT - Creating a false dilemma of only negative interpretation doesn't allow for several other reasonable explanations, such as Will's article is perfectly accurate even if the readers don't know or understand all the details.

It looks like Will's item ordered back in the fall of 2024 likely had the ~20% known tariffs and duties priced in, but by the time the item shipped and arrived in Hilo, the tariffs and fees had increased which added an extra $10k. As Will was not the Importer of Record, he was not directly on the hook for the fees, but his contractor wasn't going to eat them either. So Will had to let the item go and the contractor found someone else able to take on the extra costs to buy that item.

Could Will have better outlined all the timelines and all the tariff details to make his point - yes. Would it mean that more people actually believe his story? Maybe, as some people appear determined to not believe his experience and who is to blame for it, regardless of how many facts he, or anyone else, provides them.

[MyManao]

It is interesting how those with the least understanding of how the China prefabs and tariffs work are also the most unwilling to believe Will's article. 

Not having gone too far down this rabbit hole other than to glance now and then for its entertainment value, and of course feeling for Will and his family.. I can say, from having been published a few times there myself, that Civil Beat is very thorough in their fact checking.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Civil Beat is very thorough in their fact checking.

I’ll also add that I have written emails to numerous writers of magazine or newspaper articles over the decades.  Either for clarification, additional background, or correcting an error.  I don’t believe I have ever received a reply from anyone.  They have occasionally corrected mistakes I noted.  They are in the business of writing.  By the time their piece is published they are working on the next article.

On the other hand, if a writer is on TwitterX or Bluesky they will often reply, because on those platforms they are looking for interaction.  I have had writers from major national publications reply to me or comment there. 

I wrote to Will.  He didn’t reply.  Would I prefer he did?  Definitely.  Does it imply anything at all as some here suggest while they unwind their conspiratorial assumptions?  Just that he’s like every other writer I’ve ever encountered.

There are people on Punaweb who won’t reply to direct questions, so one would think it’s understood that Will might not either.


The author, Will Bailey, conspicuously fails to divulge his own ignorance about the U.S. import process

Isn’t that why he hired an importer and a contractor? To handle the details of the transaction?  Will was not the importer of record.  Don’t we pay professionals to handle the work we either don’t understand ourselves, can’t do ourselves, or don’t have the skills to accomplish?  If I hire a carpenter to complete a job at a quoted price, am I responsible for measuring, counting, cutting, etc?  No, that’s why I hired them.

[Durian Fiend]

Here is a video from a couple weeks ago of a couple who bought a tiny home from China. In the first two minutes they give the price of just the home as approximately $15.8K, and total after shipping, taxes and tariffs as over $28K. It didn't take them long to get their home manufactured and shipped. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fezpeNM8dWI

Google AI says the cost of shipping a tiny home from China to Honolulu is 10-15K for freight alone. So, given these numbers are we to believe that Will's home cost only about $5-10K initially? And why wasn't he required to pay all fees upfront before it shipped, like the folks in the video above?

---

I know a man in the tiny homes business locally and asked him about this story.

He says, via text: "...Yes that is true there always a big custom tariff fee involved it it. That's why we tell the people in advance and include in the price. We sold and installed 65 homes in this island in last 2 years..."