What To Do About Tariffs

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Holiday. I want to take a few moments of your time to read my notes about the upcoming tariffs and how they might affect the promotional products industry.

The short answer is some disruption in supply chain operations. The area of interest for consumers are the possible price increases for Chinese goods and the increase of cost for goods that are decorated and shipped from Mexico.

What can you do? I’d urge you to plan your next six months of promo use by examining what has worked this year. Then sit down with your promo products partner (hopefully me) and order what you may use for at least the first six months of 2025. Best case outcome; you’ll save a good amount of change by avoiding both the standard price increases and tariffs. Worst case, you’ll need some extra shelf space. Here are some notes from the recent “Print and Promo Marketing” trade magazine.

Key Takeaways

• Levied: Trump pledges to enact 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and 10% on China imports, once he takes office in January. China and Mexico are critical partners in the promo industry.
• Potential Disruptor: The possible duties could cause disruption in the North American promotional products market, raising prices and complicating commerce.
• Staying Nimble: Even before the announcement, promo firms were diversifying supply chains to
  mitigate potential tariff impacts, but price increases on products are expected if the levies take
  effect.
  

President-Elect Donald Trump said Monday, Nov. 25 that he will impose tariffs of 25% on imports coming from Mexico and Canada, as well as an additional 10% duty on already-levied goods entering the U.S. from China, as soon as he steps into the Oval Office in January.

The levies, if enacted, would have potentially significant consequences for the North American promotional products industry, possibly impacting everything from cross-border merch projects distributors orchestrate for clients to increasing supply chain costs associated with manufacturing America-bound product in Canada, Mexico and China.

China, Mexico and Canada are the United States’ three largest trade partners. The majority of promotional products sold in the United States are made in China, and Mexico is emerging as a more significant sourcing destination for the swag space – making the potential tariffs an issue of prime importance to the merch market.