It didn’t take long for the tariffs to hit Kessler & Sons Music.
The music store in Las Vegas, Nev., has already had to make tough calls. Besides stocking equipment from major companies like Yamaha and Conn-Selmer, they also sell their own in-house brand of saxophones, flutes, and other instruments, most of which are manufactured in China. But when President Trump imposed steep tariffs on Chinese imports, the store had to suspend production and cancel orders, even though it meant losing deposits they’d already paid.
“As a small family business, we simply do not have the resources to absorb much in the tariff costs due to our pricing structure,” said Dave Kessler, sales manager at Kessler & Sons.
Kessler got some relief this week after President Trump announced a reduction in tariffs on most Chinese goods from an eye-watering 145% to 30% — still high, but more manageable. It was enough for Kessler to order some of his instruments, though he expects his Chinese-made products to cost 15 to 20% more than before. The high costs and uncertainty have left him frustrated enough that he decided to write a blog to chronicle the changes.
“In the end, 30% is better than 145%,” he said, “but adding 30% to my cost and the fact that these tariffs have to be pre-paid does have a noted impact on our bank accounts,” he said.
Stores and manufacturers across the music instrument industry have been ringing warning bells for months about President Trump’s tariff policy. The United States imported about $2.2 billion worth of musical instruments last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with 35% coming from China.
It’s no wonder, then, that the April 9 announcement of 145% tariffs on all Chinese-made items sent businesses into a panic. And while last week’s cut brought some relief, there’s an understanding that it may be temporary – and even the lower rate will still have an impact.
“The direct effects are higher costs for imported instruments, say an entry-level guitar or trombone assembled in China,” said Cullen Hendrix, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He warned that as much as 50 to 75% of the additional costs could be passed on to customers.
The immediate problem for many businesses is that they have to pay the tariffs as soon as the products arrive in port, even though they won’t be sold for weeks or months. This presents an immediate problem because many smaller music shops often don’t have enough cash on hand to cover sudden cost spikes, said Dan Vedda, owner of Skyline Music in Wakeland, Ohio.
“If it shows up in ports and they have to come up with another $100,000, that could bankrupt some businesses in this industry,” he said. “They can’t even get the goods into the warehouse if there’s that much of an increase. They don’t have that kind of margin.”
The uncertainty brought on by the on-again, off-again tariffs has led some of Vedda’s suppliers to pause shipments. Others have held off on issuing price lists. He’s worried that he may end up with bare shelves if he can’t get some instruments he’s ordered.
“If I can’t get the product, it doesn’t make any difference what the price is,” he said.
There’s also fear among some retailers that an unstable economy more broadly will keep customers from evening coming in the door. The most recent report from the University of Michigan showed consumer confidence in the economy at a nearly 3 year low.
“It’s hard to justify that new saxophone when you are worried that the rest of your essential items might be going massively up in cost in the near future,” Kessler said.
President Trump has justified his tariffs with promises that they push companies to move production back to the U.S. and lead to a resurgence in American manufacturing. While most musical instruments sold in the U.S. come from countries like China and Indonesia, a small domestic industry could benefit from this policy.
But in practice, most domestic production focuses on expensive, higher-end instruments. These American-made violins and guitars cost thousands of dollars, and they will almost certainly get more expensive as tariffs push up the cost of supplies. The effect is that tariffs wind up hurting some of the very groups they purportedly aim to help.
“Even many ‘Made in the USA’ instruments and other musical equipment relies heavily on Chinese components,” Hendrix said. He points to examples like magnets for speakers and steel and aluminum for input jacks as parts that will get more expensive, pushing up the overall price for U.S.-made equipment.
Matt Coe, owner of Coe Percussion in Tallahassee, Fla., crafts made-to-order xylophones and marimbas. Right after President Trump won the election, he bought about $5,000 worth of brass – enough for a year – which has insulated him somewhat from the price increases tariffs would bring. But he’s also paying more for other parts, including a 10% jump in prices for the bolts and screws that fix the marimba’s wooden tone bars to their frames. He’s trying to keep his instruments as affordable as possible, but he’s concerned about the future.
“I’ve always hated raising prices,” he said, “because I always thought if I do, no one would order anything.”
While musicians of all types will likely pay more, younger players, especially students and children from lower-income families, are likely to be hurt the most. That’s because they most rely most on cheaper base models typically imported from China. Parents are more likely to buy their teenager a Chinese-made Ibanez – retailing for $200 – than an American-made $2,000 Gibson SG.
“Chinese instruments allow music education to be accessible to more young people at lower cost,” Hendrix said.