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Post by copperx on Nov 6, 2024 12:07:43 GMT -6
Not a political post, but I was wondering, if tariffs were implemented on foreign goods, what would that mean to audio equipment prices? Would that mean that Audioscape will be cheaper eventually than Stam, for example? Also interesting on what would happen to Chinese manufactured goods, which is almost everything these days.
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Post by Dan on Nov 6, 2024 12:38:02 GMT -6
Prices would spike. Same as they did in 2018 but more if he does 60% from China. Trump seems to not understand or care that businesses just past the cost on. Musk does but he is a loon and doesn’t care because he’s a billionaire who can afford to behave irresponsibly and pay for 12 kids.
At most these companies with overseas factories or that utilize oems will “assemble” it in the USA. This can be just screwing a circuit board into a a case as its “final transformation” if enough of the parts came from the USA. They might not even be wiring the controls and jacks. Those can be board mounted and unsecured to the case. These boards aren’t wired by hand anymore unless it’s Chandler and Chandler doesn’t make workhorse gear really. The circuit board can have the same junk it would have it if it were machine soldered in China. That’s what MOTU did and had their boards made at Virtex.
Most gear uses electrical parts from China. Even the good parts are often made in China.
Shure is mostly made in Mexico.
Bring what back to the USA too? We never made mass produced cheap switching mode power supplies and cheap flat screens. Most of that is made in Asia.
The pro audio industry largely runs on cheap Asian equipment made from consumer and prosumer technology. If Trump wants it back, he should want to regulate the corporate behavior that produced a race to the bottom environment that offshored it to the countries with the lowest labor cost, cheaped it out to force you to replace it, made repair impossible, and manufacture is now automated even in lower cost of labor countries to cut out the human element. This isn’t even a political statement but a fact.
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Post by veggieryan on Nov 6, 2024 12:41:53 GMT -6
Correct, it incentivizes and rewards companies who build and manufacture in the USA instead of importing everything.
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Post by doubledog on Nov 6, 2024 12:45:06 GMT -6
I agree that any tariffs will just be eventually passed on to the consumer - meaning a lot of things will be getting more expensive in the US - unless they setup a "factory" in the US to invoke the "final assembly" loophole. Just warehousing items (like a lot of it is done today) won't do it.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 6, 2024 12:45:08 GMT -6
My bet is that the next administration will target tariffs industry by industry in the end. The campaign talk is "60% on everything from China" but I think realistically they'll target industries where US manufacturing can conceivably begin supplying local products.
Easy example would be cars.
But in general, yes many things could become more expensive depending on the profit margins on the given product. But tariffs also support and encourage domestic production at least in theory. So (in theory) American manufacturers might see an opportunity to make more parts stateside if they don't have to compete against the cheap Chinese stuff.
Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.
Our European friends can tell you all about import costs for microphones and other things to countries where pro-audio manufacturing is protected (like UK).
EDIT: I'd stock up on Lewitt mics! The days of a $400 mic that is as good as a $1200 mic may be nearing an end.
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Post by veggieryan on Nov 6, 2024 12:54:23 GMT -6
It's now a good time to start making quality audio gear in the USA again.
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Post by Dan on Nov 6, 2024 13:00:04 GMT -6
Correct, it incentivizes and rewards companies who build and manufacture in the USA instead of importing everything. Those don’t really exist anymore for audio when the Clinton and Bush administrations refused to do anything about Behringer, counterfeit electrical parts that eventually became “legitimate” junk electrical parts, and and really regulate companies like Alesis, Mackie, Peavey, Rode, Harman who were just dumping out cheap gear, some of it quite okay or parts of it totally fine, which is why it’s so ubiquitous used and they couldn’t continue their business practices and stay profitable. They were made in the USA and dumping junk into the market long before the offshored and off brands got in the game. Even now, you can find more Mackie mixers, Peavy bandits, and event monitors used than there are really people to use them. You could even get new in box units for many long discontinued products pre covid. |
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Post by veggieryan on Nov 6, 2024 13:09:56 GMT -6
Welp, now all the garbage clones made in China will cost more and so more people will choose to buy quality gear from good companies in the USA like Audioscape.
Music will sound better.
More Audioscape employees can afford groceries and rent/mortgage payments.
Maybe go for a walk and ask yourself if thats a good thing or a bad thing.
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Post by tasteliketape on Nov 6, 2024 13:11:14 GMT -6
Welp, now all the garbage clones made in China will cost more and so more people will choose to buy quality gear from good companies in the USA like Audioscape. Music will sound better. More Audioscape employees can afford groceries and rent/mortgage payments. Maybe go for a walk and ask yourself if thats a good thing or a bad thing. +100% |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Nov 6, 2024 13:12:36 GMT -6
Welp, now all the garbage clones made in China will cost more and so more people will choose to buy quality gear from good companies in the USA like Audioscape. Music will sound better. More Audioscape employees can afford groceries and rent/mortgage payments. Maybe go for a walk and ask yourself if thats a good thing or a bad thing. If it works it works. This is how Germany supports so many high quality manufacturers for everything from colored pencils to cars to microphones. The difference is that Americans don't have the same culture of "pay the price for quality" but I think audio pros (the real ones) do. |
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Post by Quint on Nov 6, 2024 13:17:48 GMT -6
Without getting into politics here too much, it's worth saying that these sort of tariff trade practices don't happen in a vacuum. Other countries are of course free to respond in kind. More US-made audio gear could also mean less markets for US farmers to sell their soybeans, for example. These things can spiral out of control quickly, so be careful what you wish for.
But at least in a vacuum, and generally in principle, sure, I'd support more US-made audio gear.
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Post by Johnkenn on Nov 6, 2024 13:19:07 GMT -6
OK...think we got the answer.
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