In the past few months, businesses of all types have been feeling the pressure of President Trump's tariffs on foreign goods. While some businesses are able to make adjustments to work around these increased costs, others cannot because of their dependence on foreign manufacturers. The unpredictability of the tariffs is making it difficult for small businesses that rely on foreign goods to plan for the immediate future.
One type of business in particular is feeling the pressure from these increases: Instrument shops.
"It is absolutely, without question, negatively impacting our business," said Mike Ayers, co-owner of Harry's Guitar Shop in Raleigh. "Just the mere mention of it brings fear into our customers."
WUNC interviewed Ayers in July. At that time, he said that he's seen an average of four price increases from the biggest manufacturers the store orders from since January. That's compared to one or two bumps in an average year. "We saw this in Trump's first term, but it's so much worse now," he said.
Last week Ayers confirmed the situation has not improved.
According to The White House, President Trump believes that tariffs are "necessary to ensure fair trade, protect American workers, and reduce the trade deficit."
But Ayers said that as a small business, it's important for Harry's to be able to plan ahead.
"I need to order now what I'm going to have to sell at Christmas for the holidays," he said. "But I don't know what those items are going to sell for, because my manufacturers don't know, because they don't know what tariffs are going to do. I've seen a starter guitar that was $199 last Christmas go up to $259."
Country of origin plays a big part in how much each item a store sells will be affected. Ayers said that a lot of the items that Harry's sells come from China. They also have a fair amount of inventory from Vietnam, South Korea, and Taiwan. He notes that a lot of items that are advertised as "USA made" will still be affected by tariffs.
"A lot of people don't understand that," he said. "Something can be 'made in the USA' but the sum of its parts come from overseas.”
Carrboro's Twin House Music says it is also affected by tariffs. Store owner Brian McGee said that the hardest part of the issue is explaining it to customers. He also says that he's starting to see that some companies they work with can no longer absorb the extra costs.
"Some companies who have waited to raise prices or have been absorbing price increases, finally cried 'uncle' and told all their dealers that prices had to go up because they couldn't afford to eat the increased costs," he said. "So the dealer net on items has gone up and some companies are requiring dealers like us to pay the shipping costs that we hadn't had to pay before the tariffs."
By contrast, Asheville's Pisgah Banjo Co. is not facing any issues due to tariffs. Their instruments are truly 100% made in the USA.
"Every tone ring, bracket, tension hoop, and tailpiece is made by American machine shops - many of them located right here in the Southern Appalachians. Our wood comes exclusively from regional forests, carefully harvested with sustainability in mind," they state on their website."
While that is true, it should be noted that Pisgah Banjo Co. and Harry's Guitar Shop have very different clienteles. A custom banjo from Pisgah starts at $1,595.
