The 10% tariff on aluminum began in March 2018 and the kickstarter ended May 18th, 2018. The 25% tariff on Chinese Aluminum started in May of 2019, while the tariffs on Mexican and Canadian on aluminum were eliminated all together.
I'm not saying the tariffs didn't hurt, but the time line doesn't exactly add up.
I have bought quite a bit number of steppers and drivers as well as imported a BLDC in the last five years, prices in my opinion are not much higher than they were, but I'm not buying 500 of each so maybe I might not be noticing the difference.
Link to latest update -
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects.../posts/2512698