For the time being, there are pre-tariff Chinese radios for sale in the US at reasonable prices, and I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel for things to review. I came upon on this new-condition Degen DE1131 Touch Screen Controlled Portable AM/FM/SW Digital radio on eBay for $19.99 including shipping from Electronnix. I’ll link to the eBay listing since there are multiples for sale (and they are offered on Amazon for $19.98 from the same seller).
Degen DE1131 Touch Screen Controlled Portable AM/FM/SW Digital radio
This is a radio I looked at some years ago, and rejected because of its original price ($79). It’s a an eleven and a half-year-old radio introduced in November 2013, and I guess they’re finally blowing them out now.
I’m no fortuneteller and I don’t have any special expertise in international trade, but I can report what I saw today.
I ordered a Chinese-made WWVB time signal receiver module from a Canadian seller on eBay. It cost $9.13. Here’s a screen shot from my order on eBay:
WWVB receiver module
When I went back to check the order today, there was a note on the seller’s listing that it had been updated:
That’s about a 1000% increase.
Instead of raising the price, some international eBay sellers are just adding the tariff to the shipping cost (which I prefer because it makes it clear what’s going on and makes it easier to do price comparisons). Here’s an example of a radio I have:
$27.99 radio with $110 shipping.
Or how about $505 to ship a Tecsun S8800 from Hong Kong?
The title of this blog post is a play on a trade policy called “de minimus,” that allows Americans to order things from other countries, up to one package per day valued up to $800, with no import duties. That policy ends for China on May 2. The shipping country isn’t important; it’s the country of origin that determines the tariff.
My WWVB clock module should have shipped 3 days ago by eBay’s standard 2-day shipping policy, but it hasn’t. Supposedly eBay international shipping rolls up all taxes and duties into the selling price. So whether it will ever ship is an open question in my mind.
Update:
The eBay seller was kind enough to answer my query, informing me that the package had arrived in the US prior to the tariffs going into effect. It’s scheduled for delivery on May 9.c
Update 2:
I had a misunderstanding about how tariffs are working. The article above is correct as it stands, but it talks about two individual sellers who ship internationally direct to customers.
AliExpress is a supplier that I use for some radio-related items. Their model is to aggregate a number of orders into one shipment, which passes US customs and is assessed on the total value of the shipment. Once customs is cleared, the large shipment is broken up into individual packages and put in the mail stream. While there is indeed a 145% tariff, there is no $100 minimum per order or per item when items are shipped this way.
Update 3:
As of June 24, 2025 the tariff on Chinese consumer electronics like shortwave radios is 55%.
I thought I would try out the Grok AI today, so I asked Microsoft Copilot to make up a query to test it out. Copilot knows things I’m interested in and it came up with this challenge:
Analyze the impact of the recent solar storm on global radio communications. Include specific effects on WWVB signal reception, shortwave propagation, and satellite systems.
Copilot explained that its question requires current event awareness, demands technical analysis and tests depth of access.
WWVB broadcasts from Ft. Collins, Colorado on a frequency of 60 kHz.
Credit: NIST
The signal is time data, in a complex modulation scheme, repeating each minute. The format is described in some detail on the NIST website. Apparently, it can be listened to with the appropriate equipment and sounds like Morse code. I found an example on Reddit.
WWBV’s frequency of 60 kHz, is considered longwave (LW), but I don’t have any communications receiver covering LW that goes below 100 kHz. eBay has many listings for WWVB clock modules, like this one:
WWVB clock module
The problem with these under $10 kits is that they are made in China and the tariffs will greatly add to the price. I found one shipping from Canada that might make it across the border in time.
SI4732 0.5-108mhz Portable Radio LSB USB AM FM Pocket Mini Radio
I ordered this from AliExpress and have been promised delivery by April 29. This remarkably featured shirt pocket sized radio sells for around $32 with free shipping (even less from other sellers, and on eBay). It even detects single sideband. That delivery date is important because if it arrives in the United States after May 1, there will be a $100 tariff slapped on it, and I’ll refuse delivery. At this point (see updates in the comments below) late delivery seems unlikely.
Update: It made it through customs on the 25th. There was a note online that their logistics company had made some special effort.
And with that, I’m out of the radio importing business until US trade policy changes.
Update 2: AliExpress is a little different from a seller on eBay. They don’t ship direct to the consumer, but rather ship in bulk to a US agent that breaks the large shipment into individual packages and puts them into the mail stream. For this reason, the $100 minimum per item doesn’t apply, but the 145% tariff still does.
While we wait, here is a very informative video from OM0ET.
I received my LiJiANi Rd908 on time from Amazon, but there was some confusion about the weather alert feature. It didn’t work as the product description said, and the manual linked in the product description didn’t even mention an alert feature.
That was resolved by the LiJiANi seller through a revised manual: LiJiANi Version 1.5 User Manual, but their reply included this disturbing addition:
At present, the inventory in Amazon warehouse is sold out and no more will be purchased. Because the tariff is too high, the price will not sell well if it is increased, and it will lose money if it is not increased. We choose not to purchase. I’m very sorry.
Amazon shows their quantity in stock as 4 for the yellow version. I know some retailers have built up supply in anticipation of tariffs, but this is an early glimpse of what to expect unless US trade policy changes.
But on to the product review…
LiJiANi Rd908 Weather Alert Radio (Amazon product photo)Continue reading →
I had some questions about the 14500 battery, one of the types supported by this radio, and asked Microsoft Copilot about it. That led to a discussion of the radio and its features. At the end, after sharing my purchase decision process and the radio’s features, Copilot asked if it could help with the review. So here’s what it had to say:
AI generated content may appear occasionally in articles and will be denoted with the 🤖 [robot emoji] symbol. Content comes most often from Microsoft Copilot, but may also come from Perplexity, ChatGPT, Duck.ai, Grok or Deep Seek.
