Everyone's heard about the new tariffs that were in imposed on Chinese imports in September, which will go into effect on January 1 in the Promotional Products industry. On top of the current rise in costs, there are additional tariffs proposed for new product categories, as well as a significant increase in the tariff rates in January from 10-25%.To best utilize your budget, we are advising clients to place their promotional orders as early as possible this quarter. As suppliers run out of stock, most will be adding the new product costs to any inventory they have coming in January, even if the order is placed in December.
Although 90% of promotional products are imported from China, Custom Source Marketing has been securing new manufacturing resources in the US (Yeah!) and other countries to help maintain cost effective merchandise options. Our team keeps up to date on products effected by the new tariffs so we can recommend the best promotional and gift solutions to keep you in budget. Send us an email at csm.sales@customsourcemkg.com if you would like us to keep you in the loop regarding with these updates. Don't worry, you won't be added to a marketing list!
Here is more information thanks to our industry association, Promotional Products Association International. Hope this information helps you with your end of year and 2019 budget planning.
"News outlets are reporting that the U.S. is preparing a fourth round of tariffs on Chinese imports if talks fail between President Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping, which is scheduled for late November at the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires. The fourth round of tariffs would include all remaining Chinese imports and is expected to be announced in early December and go into effect around the beginning of February following a 60-day public comment period
The current tariffs on about $250 billion in Chinese imports are at 10 percent, but are slated to rise to 25 percent on January 1, 2019. The tariffs went into effect in September and include six categories of products sold within the promotional products industry. Included in that list are bags (briefcases, leather handbags, golf bags, gun cases, gym bags, musical instrument cases, toiletry bags, wallets, purses, tool bags, sports bags, vanity cases, glasses cases, backpacks, insulated food or beverage bags, and suitcases), hats (including wool knit caps and baseball caps), notebooks (paper diaries, journals, notebooks, address books, memo pads, folders and stationery), fabrics (cotton, wool or synthetic sources and all textile inputs including yarns and fabrics) and sporting gloves (such as baseball and other gloves used in sports). The fourth list, representing approximately $267 billion in imported products, would expand to consumer goods categories that have so far gone untouched by U.S. tariffs such as cellphones and shoes."
