Saxophones How will Tariffs affect Sax Prices?

[Dr G]

I don’t know how it works with saxophones per se, but the price listed on Thomann for US customers doesn’t necessarily tell you anything about the tariff you will be charged. I purchased a $35 Focusrite cable and a week later UPS informed me I had a $150 customs bill due. Turns out that even though Focusrite is an English company and UK tariffs are supposed to be 15%, the actual metals used in the cable came from “China China China” so the tariff was calculated at 400%. (I refused delivery btw.)

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Incidentally, there was no way to know ahead of time that any part of the product came from China. It wasn’t mentioned on the Thomann website, nor anywhere else online. It wasn’t until after a bunch of emailing with the UPS customs department that they showed me the Thomann waybill where the Country of Origin code was marked as CN.

Is the tariff on Chinese goods actually 400% or did the customs bill include service charges?

Regardless, it is interesting to note who is getting stuck with paying tariffs. Hint: It is not the Chinese.

Is it disrupting business? You bet.

 

[Zasterz]

Is the tariff on Chinese goods actually 400% or did the customs bill include service charges?

Regardless, it is interesting to note who is getting stuck with paying tariffs. Hint: It is not the Chinese.

Is it disrupting business? You bet.

To clarify, the actual customs fee was 315% and the rest was brokerage fee. The entire process is quite opaque with no one able to give you any estimate ahead of time. The tariff in this case wasn’t due to it being “Chinese goods” but rather due to the English good having been made with Chinese aluminum, a fact that no consumer would likely know ahead of time.

 

[Dr G]

To clarify, the actual customs fee was 315% and the rest was brokerage fee. The entire process is quite opaque with no one able to give you any estimate ahead of time. The tariff in this case wasn’t due to it being “Chinese goods” but rather due to the English good having been made with Chinese aluminum, a fact that no consumer would likely know ahead of time.

Thanks for sharing that. I wonder what they do with metal that was purchased before the tariffs were imposed. Sigh…

Aside: I have guitars with Brazilian rosewood and ivory that were made before it was an issue. Now what? I don’t think it’s even legal to sell them. It would be easier to sell a used handgun or knife.

 

[Zasterz]

Thanks for sharing that. I wonder what they do with metal that was purchased before the tariffs were imposed.

Well I imagine Focusrite just continues to sell their products in UK/EU/rest of the world as before. It’s just us who can’t buy them at a decent price anymore.

 

[Woodpad]

Did Thomann react to this?

 

[jonf]

Another legal issue, another temper tantrum and now 10% global tariffs on imports to the US, possible refunds and the likelihood of more wealth creation for lawyers at the expense of everyone else.

 

[Tuppertn]

Another legal issue, another temper tantrum and now 10% global tariffs on imports to the US, possible refunds and the likelihood of more wealth creation for lawyers at the expense of everyone else.

Who's going to be the first to test it? Somebody in the US go buy something expensive from China and see if the price just took a massive dip overnight.

No?

Huh...

Well, at least Walmart will get their money back. That's all that really matters.

 

[Zasterz]

Who's going to be the first to test it? Somebody in the US go buy something expensive from China and see if the price just took a massive dip overnight.

No?

Huh...

It’s not the price you have to worry about. You won’t know the tariff bill until it arrives at customs and I imagine the people at customs are having a great time implementing all the continually shifting calculations of the past year, based on country of origin, based on material content, based on category of item…

 

[mizmar]

Who's going to be the first to test it?

If we've learned anything over the last months it's that the impacts take time to wash through to the sticker price as producers, distributors and retailers; stockpile, shift things around, tweak prices etc. to keep alive.
Right now, from initial reactions, price isn't the issue (across the deliver chain, exchange rates etc 10% is almost in the noise); the issue is uncertainty. It's very hard to put in orders over quarterly or whatever cycle when actually no one is knows the price of anything in 3 months time.

 

[jonf]

Right now, from initial reactions, price isn't the issue (across the deliver chain, exchange rates etc 10% is almost in the noise); the issue is uncertainty. It's very hard to put in orders over quarterly or whatever cycle when actually no one is knows the price of anything in 3 months time.

Exactly this. And now it's 15% by Tuesday. This really does make it impossible to predict import costs. It's not economics, it's just tit for tat, and it really is hard to see any positives in this constant state of flux.

 

[Dr G]

Exactly this. And now it's 15% by Tuesday. This really does make it impossible to predict import costs. It's not economics, it's just tit for tat, and it really is hard to see any positives in this constant state of flux.

It was initially claimed to be tit for tat, but has since been revealed to be otherwise. The trade imbalance remains. If you fail to see the positives of this market, you may not be a billionaire.

 

[jonf]

There really isn't any genuine economic analysis going on with these on-off tariffs.

 

[Dr G]

There really isn't any genuine economic analysis going on with these on-off tariffs.

Perhaps not by the people imposing the tariffs, but others are certainly making genuine economic analyses, e.g. trade imbalance figures.

 

[jonf]

Perhaps not by the people imposing the tariffs, but others are certainly making genuine economic analyses, e.g. trade imbalance figures.

Yes, agreed, that's what I meant.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Just a gentle reminder to please avoid politics in this discussion… trust me I know how tempting it is.

 

[mizmar]

certainly making genuine economic analyses

I don't know about "genuine" but I'll bet this period is a windfall for academic economist publishing

 

[ESJohn]

The Jean Paul AS400 is at $679.99 on Amazon but the premium kit that had been available isn't featured any longer, not even as an "out of stock" item. Not sure if that means anything.
The good news for me is that my Maxwell House decaf coffee is on sale for $9.33 and is still in the 29.3 oz size. That's quite a distance from the $21 that I would need to pay at my local grocer.

 

[Grumps]

Just a gentle reminder to please avoid politics in this discussion… trust me I know how tempting it is.

Can we say we like tariffs?

 

[Jimmymack]

Can we say we like tariffs?

Are you one of those aforementioned Billionaires? In which case, yes.

 

[Jimmymack]

But really, who doesn't like a tariff? It gives spice to life.