The National Association Of Music Merchants (NAMM) has raised concerns that new tariffs in the US will raise instrument prices for musicians and hurt music manufactures and retailers.
While many may think of NAMM as the organization behind the annual NAMM Show, their broader focus is to represent the music industry and promote music-making.
The US has announced a variety of new tariffs, targeting imports from China, Canada, China and other countries. The administration argues that the tariffs are needed to drive international action on US concerns about immigration and Fentanyl trafficking.
This week, NAMM CEO John Mlynczak published a statement on the impact of new tariffs. He raises the concern that these new taxes will increase the prices of musical instruments, which are often imported or made with imported parts, and hurt both gear makers and retailers.
While tariffs are often positioned as ‘punishing’ other countries, they are taxes that US citizens and corporations pay. Economists estimate that the new tariffs will raise taxes in the US by about $1.1 trillion, or about $800 per household in 2025.
The idea is that, if the US raises the cost of things imported from China, you’ll be less likely to buy these things, which will indirectly punish China. Tariffs can be a double-edged sword, though, because they also raise the costs for American manufacturers that rely on imported parts, and tariffs can contribute to inflation.
Here’s the full text of Mlynczak’s statement:
Music is a powerful unifying force across the world. Music brings us together, it heals, and it empowers. It is essential that music-making continues to unite us globally, without any punitive measures or restrictions to the trade and manufacturing of musical products.
The National Association of Music Merchants, representing the global music products industry, strongly urges elected leaders and world governments to support the free trade of musical products, as well as the materials used in manufacturing musical products. We call for universal exemptions from punitive tariffs for all musical products and accessories that are used by musicians worldwide.
Excess tariffs imposed on specific countries are a great concern for our music products industry for the following reasons:
Many of the most iconic, highly sought-after and highest-quality musical products are proudly made in the United States. These brands also offer successful lines of affordable, entry-level and intermediate products that ensure new and emerging music makers have access to quality products from leading American companies. The success of the top-of-the-line models made in the U.S. is dependent on the success of the full range of products made in factories around the world. This is true for many other industries, as well: The success of our strong American companies is dependent on global trade. We stand with Consumer Technology Association in recognizing that tariffs “weaken the global trading system that has powered America’s economic growth for decades.”
Statement: Consumer Technology Association
Musicians rely on a strong retailer network to support and educate them along their musical journey. Retail is the backbone of our music products industry, with more than 4,000 retail locations in the United States serving musicians and students. The musical product retail network is essential to music-making, and we stand with the National Retail Federation in avoiding shifting costs “onto the backs of American families, workers and small businesses.”
Statement: National Retail Federation
Like many other industries, musical product trade is also highly interconnected in North America, with decades of successful trade and partnerships between Mexico and Canada that have allowed us to compete globally. We stand with the National Association of Manufacturers that “protecting manufacturing gains that have come from our strong North American partnerships is vital.”
Statement: National Association of Manufacturers
We understand the need for strong trade agreements with favorable terms for the United States. But these global agreements should not impede the rights of musical and artistic expression. As our Vision Statement says: We envision a world in which the joy of making music is a precious element of daily living for everyone; a world in which every child has a deep desire to learn music and a recognized right to be taught; and in which every adult is a passionate champion and defender of that right.
We encourage all NAMM members to join us in urging our global leaders to support the free trade of music products to provide a more musical world.
John Mlynczak
President and CEO, NAMM
It’s hard to know where the US is going to land on these new taxes. Some of the announced tariffs are currently on hold. Meanwhile, other tariffs imposed on Chinese imports have been in place across the last two administrations, which has raised prices for many products for US citizens.
Should musical instruments be exempted from the new tariffs? Share your thoughts in the comments!
yawn.. reminds me of a movie I lived through 8 years ago.
Yea, it’s not just musical instruments & gear; there are many categories of non-luxury goods that we’re just not tooled up to make in the U.S.– and will cause ripple effects and pain.
I expect this thread will devolve into some contentious bickering. And I don’t mean to get the ball rolling, but anyone who thinks that this tariff idea was given any serious thought as to consequences (both intended and unintended) is pretty generous with their “loyalty”.
’nuff said.
I forsee a rise in affordable symths, like Behringer, in America, because I bet Uli can streamline production better to curb prices than any American company can. :’)
Both cheaper synths and pricier ones will all go up in price– regardless of where they are made. I doubt Uli can streamline production more than he already does– without exploiting workers more than he already does, and ripping off designs more than he already does.
That’s unlikely because they would need to set up new factories, source as many new domestic suppliers as possible (overseas suppliers will still get tariffed), employ new people & then ensure they’re trained properly before producing a single product. And they’ll pay USA prices for all that preparation.
Reasons why:
– The domestic labour & supply market will be strained by other companies moving producing goods in the USA. That demand will compound costs as demand means higher prices to do business.
– There doesn’t appear to be anything in the current US administration’s plans from stopping the USA from becoming a low-producing, overpriced backwater. There are no benefits being offered to relocate other than tariffs.
– Tariffs are paid on the importer’s side, not the exporter’s side. The general population of the USA will pay the tariffs. There is literally no incentive for a company to relocate if they can pivot to markets that aren’t aligned with the USA.
– A 25% tariff on imported goods means that existing domestic companies can basically just chuck up their prices by 20% and still be cheaper than overseas companies.
– The USA may be the 3rd most populous country & have the largest economy, but that doesn’t mean the world depends on the USA for commerce. There’s 8 billion people alive right now. Only 350 million are in the USA.
Consider this: post WW2 Australia tried using high tariffs to protect its economy & we wound up spending more money for less competitive goods. Through the 80s & 90s Australia’s economy grew significantly after it eased off tariffs on consumer goods. Yes that lead to less being produced here, but that lost production didn’t affect any other country. The USA’s position depends on it’s reputation & that’s being ruined in the eyes of the rest of the world.
The tariff is a penalty for fentanyl from China being shipped to Mexico and Canada for smuggling into America. The president of NAMM did not say anything about this or about the tens of thousands of lives destroyed every year by the international drug trade. His callousness makes me ashamed of buying musical instruments.
“His callousness makes me ashamed of buying musical instruments.”
You’re being pretty dramatic there. Will you be swooning?
It’s not NAMM’s job to fix America’s social ills, it’s to promote music-making. All NAMM is saying is that the tariffs will raise costs for musicians and kill American businesses. Those are facts, and if you can’t handle facts, that’s your problem.
Lives in the US aren’t being destroyed by the international drug trade. Poor people in America want to get high, because their lives are hopeless. That’s what destroys lives. Making drug dealers rich isn’t going to help.
The first war on drugs was an complete failure that made drug dealers rich. Prohibition was a complete failure that made bootleggers rich.
Fentanyl deaths quadrupled during Trump’s first administration, and made drug dealers rich. The new war on drugs will be a complete failure, too, and just make drug dealers richer.
Trying to squeeze supply, without addressing demand, makes illegal drugs more valuable and increases supply. It’s basic economics. This has turned illegal drug trafficking into one of the most profitable businesses in the world, and right-wing politicians are to blame for it.
“This has turned illegal drug trafficking into one of the most profitable businesses in the world, and right-wing politicians are to blame for it.”
So, what’s the solution? Exactly how do you go about, “….addressing demand?” Give free taxpayer money to poor people and they’ll stop using drugs? If Right-wing politicians are to blame, tell us how Left-wing politicians would solve this?
Is “give free tax-payer money to poor people” how you describe programs that create jobs and stimulate the economy?
Exactly how would Left-wing politicians solve this? How would they “…address demand” and resolve this problem for which, “…Right-wing politicians are to blame?”
TimS – you’re trying really hard to make this a left-wing/right-wing extremist argument, which is pretty ignorant.
Republicans have sold us on billions of dollars of pork, based on it reducing illegal drugs, and they have utterly failed to deliver results. Dems haven’t done much better.
Trump ordered massive tariff tax-hikes in his first administration. Biden left them in place.
Trump’s the President now, so the only question that’s relevant is whether you think raising the prices of synths and guitars is going do anything to fight drug abuse in the US.
You know it’s patently stupid, and you haven’t tried to defend it. So you’re trying to change the subject, which tells us all that you know that the ‘fentanyl crisis’ is just Trump’s way of sneaking a tax hike by us.
“TimS – you’re trying really hard to make this a left-wing/right-wing extremist argument, which is pretty ignorant.”
LOL. No, you are the one who wrote above, “This has turned illegal drug trafficking into one of the most profitable businesses in the world, and right-wing politicians are to blame for it.”
All I asked for was an explanation regarding how Left-wing politicians would solve this since, “…right-wing politicians are to blame for it.”
You are blaming “right-wing politicians” and yet do not provide a Left-wing alternative/solution.
TimS – thanks for confirming you have nothing to offer in terms of defense of these tariffs.
Gaius B – thanks for confirming that you have nothing to offer in terms of an answer.
We answered your question.
LOL. No you didn’t.
Left-leaning ideology does not create jobs that remedy social issues.
The Left’s solution to every social ill is to throw money at it.
More social programs will supposedly lead to the lessening of social ills (except it usually doesn’t work).
Exactly how would Left-wing politicians solve this problem caused by Right-wing politicians?
TimS has never offered any solutions, only an ideology that supports his hate, his bigotry, and his general ignorance about all things that actually matter in this world.
He will obfuscate the truth, and cite central American socialist countries that are mired in corruption and never mention the Scandinavian, Euro, and Asian socialist nations that thrive from policies that empower everyone from the ground up rather than the Right Wing drivel that suppress and oppress from the top down, with the air holes only for the richest and most powerful.
TimS, this orange mag…..is about the ruin your country. When you become a refuge, attempting to emigrate to my nation in the Eurozone, you best behave now. I would really “hate” to use every word on here against you in your application as a worthy member of society.
########################################
Central American socialist countries? LOL. What?
What country are you living in? ” …the Eurozone?” isn’t doing well at all:
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/02/europes-economy-faces-the-danger-of-ongoing-decline-economists-say.html
Admin: Personal attack deleted.
Keep comments on topic & don’t waste the admin’s time.
Dont mind those snow flakes, after all they lost it all
Congratulations, you have won, absolutely nothing since you are about to lose your country. Get your papers in order, you will soon be a refugee to countries you have long derided, if they let you in that is.
Cool story bro
That is pure delusion, like my “bllue no matter who” grandfather. He thinks Trump will have the people he does not like rounded up and executed in the street, and he thinks Trump will become dictator for life. His MSNBC has made him into a paranoid and delusional man. Things he was for and liked, once Trump did them, he no longer likes them…and things he was against that Trump is also against, he now likes because Trump does not. Because Trump is going so hard on the boarder, my grandfather is now arguing for completely open boarders. My whole family (almost,) may be blue no matter who, but that insanity stops with me.
@TimS: So applying tax hike of 10% on goods from China (the biggest competitor on trade) and 25% hike on goods from Canada (pretty much the closest ally the USA has) solves the drug problem how?
The government of the USA hasn’t yet allocated additional funds in their budget to law enforcement, border operations, health services & community support – all things necessary to end illegal drug trades.
Notice how that 2nd paragraph involves values from both right & left wing ethics? Addiction to dangerous products transcends personal politics.
Who said anything about tariffs solving the drug problem?
I want to know how Left-wing politicians would remedy the social ill for which, “..right-wing politicians are to blame.”
Its going to be alright, as soon as we take over greenland, canada, and panama canal
you forgot mexico, gaza, store24, and the straits of homooooooze!
@Raul – a tariff is a tax on an import. They’re generally applied to protect an economy & drive domestic consumption of domestic products.
The president of the USA is just using emotive nationalist politics.
Notice how the current administration never cites stats of how much fentanyl is imported through Canada. They only make emotive announcements. They never back those claims by showing fentanyl detained at the border of either the USA or Canada. That means they’re lying to you. The fentanyl thing is a cover for other motivations. Trump really does want Canada annexed:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justin-trudeau-on-hot-mic-reportedly-trump-talk-canada-us-state-a-real-thing/
Raul, I feel sorry for you if you believe that to be the actual reason for these tariffs.
44 pounds of fentanyl were intercepted coming into the US via Canada in 2024.
I know there are wonderful people in your country, but enjoy being further isolated from the rest of the world.
I just sold a Moog to someone in Canada. It cost them an extra $450 (a Canadian import tax). By the time he paid for shipping and that Canadian fee he paid double the price I sold it for. That doesn’t make any sense. Time to eliminate those fees on both sides of our shared border.
If the impact is primarily in the U.S., why should the rest of the world be concerned? Personally, I don’t buy many U.S.-made products, and if some made-in-China knockoffs become more expensive in the U.S. and see lower sales, I actually see that as a positive outcome
sadly, were in the first few weeks of crazytown. it will get worse. much worse. swiss cheese for brains is just getting started with his extortion racket; it will be global this time.
the global economy connects everyone. you might not buy an end-product from the US, but the skill and resources that went into producing it came from all over. the world is too small for nationalism to mean anything other than hatred now.
get a copy of SeaWatch app, and check out the extent of ocean freight. .
.
“sadly, were in the first few weeks of crazytown. it will get worse. much worse. swiss cheese for brains is just getting started with his extortion racket; it will be global this time.”
Orange is the new whack.
“Orange is the new whack.” and we’re all gonna get wacked.
Bert – US tariffs raised the prices Americans pay to buy synths made in America, made with Chinese parts, but not the prices of imported synths, which are made of Chinese parts or even made completely in China.
For example, the tariffs increased the prices of Sequential synths, because Sequential make synths in the US using Chinese parts. But the tariffs didn’t raise the prices of Behringer synths in the US, because Behringer is a Philipines-based company, even though it makes everything in China.
It’s pretty bass-ackwards, if the US government actually wanted to promote American businesses!
Also, as the rest of the world will impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods, Sequential will get a double-whammy on exports which means the prices on their products will sky-rocket on other markets.
And from there, it’s just one small step to moving all manufacturing to Asia.
If the effect is mainly U.S. If in, then why should the rest of the world be worried? Personally, I do not buy many U.S.-made products, and if some med-in-China knockoffs become more expensive in America and see less sales, I really see as a positive result
The fact that both Chinas are going to be affected says a lot.
If we continue to do nothing, we never get off the cheap mfg addiction and never build back any US manufacturing. The great wall street scam and moronic politicians got us into this mess. Time for undoing .
Musician, educate thyself –
https://victorhanson.com/are-trumps-tariffs-really-tariffs/
Manufacturing in China is an order of magnitude cheaper than it is in the US.
Because of this, Trump’s 25% tariffs just punished Americans and manufacturers in the US.
Does anybody think that the US is making more synth parts in the US than it did 8 years ago? Moog had to ship their manufacturing overseas to be able to compete.
The world is on fire and the wonderful world of music does not escape. Brexit, Trump – all democratically voted by majorities. It would perhaps be wise to think twice, next time? In the mean time, let us just make music from our hearts and souls to drive away misery …
If this turns manufacturing back to USA, it will most likely be at Chinese wages.