TARIFFS AND PRICE INCREASES – what do they mean for the office?

B​As many of you know, tariffs have been a hot button in the news these days. Earlier this year, there were significant price increases coming from tariffs on steel and aluminum, which resulted in an increased cost of goods on items such as furniture. However, the new round of tariffs against China have impacted pretty much everything in the industry. The first round of these tariffs went into effect on September 24th. The imposed tariffs on China were 10 percent in September, but will increase to 25 percent at the start of the new year.
 
What does this mean to you?
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Unfortunately, more than you would think.
Even if something is made in America, it could have components (for example, a screw) that come from abroad. So, more is affected than you would first think. Another example is paper price increases. These increases don’t affect just paper, but items that come in paper goods (think a box). So, pens are affected because they come in a paper (cardboard) box. Basically, price increases, whether from tariffs or other material related increases, affect pretty much everything.
 
Here are suppliers that have already announced and sent out price increase notifications that are effective late 2018 or Jan 1, 2019:

3M
ACCO Brands
Acme United Corporation
Advantus/Read Right
​AMAX
Avery
Baumgarten's
BIC
BOSS
Busch Industries Inc
Charles Lenoard
Dixon Ticonderoga
DMI Furniture, Inc.
Eveready Battery Company
Eco-products, Inc.
Fellowes
Fiskars
Flexsteel/DMI
Fresh Products
HSM of America
HON
Iceberg
Iconex
Jonti-Craft
Ledro
Max Professional
Maxell
MMF Industries
Neenah Paper
Office Snax
Officemate International Corp.
Pacon
Rediform/Blueline
Rightangle Products
Rubbermaid Commercial Products
Safco Products Company
Samsill
Screenflex
Smead Manufacturing Co
TOPS Products
Victor Technology
 
This list is not be comprehensive, and we will continue to add to it as we receive more information from our suppliers. Many of the companies above are great partners with Twist, and have let us know in advance that they will be affected to ensure Twist and our loyal customers are not caught off guard. Many other suppliers will also be affected, but have not communicated this yet as they wait to see how they are affected. While the most recent tariffs were 10% and look to increase to 25%, these tariffs at the port does not constitute an exact price increase, even if 100% of the product is imported. For instance, some of the products will only have imported components, so the impact would only be on that portion of the product. You also have to exclude the cost of freight and overhead which is included in the cost of the product but is not part of the tariffed amount.
 
In conclusion, you can expect to see increases that range from 2% - 22% from affected suppliers.
 
Sources:
SP Richards, Essendant, Trimega and various supplier announcements