Sextech company Dame has removed the $15 ‘Trump Tariff Surcharge’ it had been adding to customer orders in reaction to US President Donald Trump placing a 145 percent levy on Chinese goods, after the tariff rate was suspended for 90 days.
Trump’s China tariff sent shockwaves through the US sextech industry, which is heavily reliant on electronic products made in China and factory production there. Dame had led the industry charge in slamming the tariff, saying it added the $15 charge to be transparent about the reason behind rising costs.
Earlier this month (May 2025) Trump announced that he had suspended the 145 percent tariff charge on Chinese goods for 90 days, temporarily reducing it to 30 percent.
Alexandra Fine, Dame’s chief executive, said that the Trump Tariff Surcharge was now gone but slammed the Trump administration for the lack of stability it had caused in the industry.
“This is a 90-day reprieve, not stability,” Fine said. “When did we normalize the idea that business leaders should celebrate wildly fluctuating government policies? That we should be grateful when economic whiplash becomes slightly less violent?”
She added: “I don’t need economic chaos as a ‘negotiation strategy’. I need institutional leaders who understand that their job is to provide stability.”
Fine told Mashable that Dame’s prices would be “pretty much” back to normal. She pointed out that there was still a relatively high tariff rate of 30 percent to absorb, but that the company would “eat” most of this rather than pass it on to customers.
Dame, known for its sextech products such as the vibrating couples wearable Hug, was far from the only company in the industry rocked by the tariff chaos.
Reacting to Trump initiating the trade war with China, Autoblow, the company known for its AI-assisted penis stroker machines, sent a stark warning. “The entire supply chain for sex toys is based in China with no American-made alternatives,” the firm said.
Referring to the 90-day China tariff reprieve, Fine said: “So am I relieved? Sure. Like I’m relieved when someone stops stepping on my foot, while knowing they might start again in 90 days. What I want relief from is instability, and that is coming from a chaos lover.”
It was recently announced that Dame had acquired the ‘crystal-based’ dildo company Chakrubs, for its second sex toy acquisition since the start of 2024.
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