It is not often that actions from the President of the United States directly impact the trading card industry, but that is exactly what happened this week as talks of tariffs have forced Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) to stop accepting new submissions from specific countries. People from Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Mexico are temporarily restricted from sending cards to PSA without having to incur long delays and potentially large fees.
In a statement released this week, PSA said that “with this pause in place, customers in these countries will be unable to complete direct submissions in the online submission center at PSAcard.com. Should any submissions be completed and sent to the U.S. from these countries, customers who send them will be financially responsible for any tariffs, duties, and other taxes incurred by PSA.”
Tariffs have dominated headlines since Donald Trump’s inauguration in January and after things seemed to have settled down during the latter stages of February, the first week of March saw the flames of a tariff war reignited. Towards the end of last week, President Trump announced that tariffs imposed on goods from China, Canada, and Mexico could begin imminently, though he did not settle on a specific date.
PSA Working to Navigate an Ever-Changing Landscape
The tariffs announced by the Trump administration will see Chinese goods subject to an additional 10% tax while Canada and Mexico will see their goods taxed in upwards of 25% across the board. As many economists predicted, Canada and China have already announced retaliatory sanctions and it is likely Mexico will follow suit.
Being that cards change hands across international borders on a daily basis, the total impact of the announced tariffs is not yet known. The baseball, football, and basketball card markets are heavily dominated by US-based buyers and sellers, but not as much as they once were. Basketball cards in particular have increased in popularity around the world as the NBA adds more and more international superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic. The same can be said about baseball cards, especially in Asia.
Card enthusiasts in Canada will be relieved to know that tariffs will not make their lives nearly as difficult as they will for people in China and Mexico. PSA has announced that Canadian grading submissions can still be sent to their Canadian headquarters in Halifax, Nova Scotia. There are also many PSA-authorized retailers throughout Canada that can facilitate grading services. Waiting times for cards to be graded are expected to increase, but that may be a small price to pay compared to what collectors in China and Mexico will have to deal with.
As for China and Mexico, the path forward for those wishing to have cards and collectibles graded is unclear. Card sales in these countries happen most frequently through eBay, and PSA is eBay’s official grader and authenticator. If PSA is not accepting grading submissions from China and Mexico, one has to wonder about the authenticity guaranteeing process that has become a pivotal part of eBay card sales.
We anticipate that PSA will figure this situation out and ultimately accept direct submissions from China and Mexico, but you can expect that the price for grading services will be significantly higher than it was previously. No other US-based grading service or trading card company has announced moves similar to those made by PSA, though there is a strong feeling that this will change in the near future.
