For US based riders, look for the brand that manufacturers foils with the lowest import tariffs(taxes). I think Lift only makes their E-Foils in Puerto Rico. Latest talks on China import tariffs are going up to 103%. That will kill sales in the US for a lot of foils.
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The cheapest foil to buy in the US is going to be Mikeās Lab
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The individual unit price on each of these is really small. A lot of the cost is baked into tooling(a thing the brands purchase that never crosses a border), design, and marketing. A US based brand thatās keeping all of that overhead out of the tariff price should have a minimal hit. I got a complete foil that still had a bunch of Chinese paperwork in it declaring a value of $350 for what was a $2k kit.
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Mikes lab. Delta. Omen. All made in the USA.
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I think thatās just smuggling
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āThe tariff is calculated as a percentage of the declared value of the good before it entered the United States, not its retail value. The money collected from tariffs goes to the Treasury Department, similar to tax revenue.ā
āThe de minimis exemption, found in Section 321(a)(2)(C) of the Tariff Act of 1930, allows goods valued at or under $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free and with minimal paperwork.ā
Hard for any of us to know exactly what happens to every item coming in the country. However, tariffs are definitely on the value, not the retail price. Further, that value will push many items under $800 into the duty free range. Trump did eliminate the de minimus exemption for Chinese and Hong Kong goods but if your foils are coming from other locations it seems like they might still be normal pricing.
All this to say I wouldnāt panic about foil prices when we donāt yet know the actual pricing. Itās all a bit funky for us as consumers because we donāt know the actual values and how the various laws will impact us.
The declared value is typically what the importer pays for the product, and the location itās sourced from matters. I had to pay the Chinese import tariff on a Gong foil that shipped from France ( the value Gong declared for it was what they charged me)
Yeah it seems like China and Hong Kong are being targeted pretty hard with the tariffs which is why the de minimus exemption was revoked. It will be interesting to see how it plays out with other brands and what the actual added costs vs retail price ends up being. I just donāt expect it to be astronomical and reason to not buy a specific brand if they have the right gear for you.
I dont see why it cant be on foil end. Longer bolts, maybe need to add another bolt for strength. Why not build into the foil adapter. Iām sure he knows better than meā¦
What a sad state of affairs when foilers canāt buy entirely new sets of gear every 6 months when brands come out with new marketing videos. What has the world come to?!
Good news is that the used market might see an upturn 
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Waiting list is going to go from 18 months to 3+ years 
Mike might even consider buying a second mold 
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I wonder if a majority of manufactures will switch from China to Vietnam manufacturing which has severely less tariffs. Lots of US based board manufactures use Vietnam to make their production boards, might as well have them make the foils as well at this point.
Vietnam tariffs gone up to 46% for this reason.
I sense some US tourists going to foil destinations and smuggling āusedā foils backā¦
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I think it has to do with lengthening the draggier section where itās always in the water, as opposed to the plate side.
Maybe move production to Russia. Which is spared from tariffs. Gee, I wonder why.
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Might revive the old thread on āAnyone tried the AliExpress foilsā .
Even at 103% tariffs is still cheaper.
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Iām all for riding what you want. I started on a Armstrong and i thought the 1250 was awesome but then their wings became too technical their ā1st HAā was very difficult to ride very high stall, their upgraded āMid aspectā were difficult to ride again, high stall. But now I hear their new HA line is great. But Iām not going there. Yiu used to see lots of Armstrong in Hawaii but its rare now to see Armstrong here. Youāll see lots of Code, F-One, AFS and Lift. So, all the OG Armstrong guys have moved on.
I was discussing this with a buddy. If you can afford to pay 2k+ for a set of foils, 1k+ for a wing, 6k for a Foil driveā¦you might be a little privilege and not have the same struggles as a person trying to feed a family on a single salary. Just my opinion.
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KT boards come from Thailand. So does Starboards, Jimmy Lewis and im sure lots more brands.
Armstrong used to be the expensive, rolls royce foil.
But not anymore:
-Armstrong HA set 2629
-AFS Enduro set 2700
-F One Skate set 2500
-Code S set 2500
Takoon and Gong are on another league, with a Takoon Flare set coming at 1699.
I have pulled the trigger on Duotone Dlab Glide.It should arrive in a couple weeeks.Just my luck i think i have broken a rib SUPfoilingā¦4 to 6 weeks to mend 