Let’s discuss the future of the outdoor industry with the looming high tariffs in 2025. How do you think this will affect businesses and consumers?
The discussion doesn’t cover the effects if tariffs impact countries where these businesses sell their products. A bigger trade conflict with return tariffs would harm exports from companies like Nemo, Thermarest, and others.
An interesting article. It’s odd that one of the few happy about the tariffs was Andy Techmanski at FORLOH, who was last seen involved in controversies during a project in Puerto Rico. Whitefish won a big contract to rebuild Puerto Rico’s electric grid after Hurricane Maria in 2017, despite having little experience. The deal was ended by the local governor soon after because of overcharging and questions about how Whitefish was chosen.
@Haru
Honestly, the entire article seemed off to me. There are many more outdoor brands like Patagonia and North Face who didn’t comment. What about Coleman, LLBean, Columbia, Black Diamond, Camelbak, etc.? The two that didn’t comment have contracts with the US government, so maybe they didn’t want to upset a sensitive political situation.
Well, that’s what the US chose.
Channing said:
Well, that’s what the US chose.
That’s what you get when you make that choice.
That’s why I’ve been stocking up!
Laughs from Australia
Maybe jackets that cost $500 could be made in the US. The cost of making them isn’t that high compared to the selling price. Cheap clothes that compete on price is one thing, but high-end items like an $800 Arc’Teryx shell could be made here instead of countries like Malaysia or Vietnam to keep it profitable.
@Frost
It’s not just about assembling the jackets. Almost all the materials and components used aren’t made in the US.
@Frost
Even if we made them here, we’d still need to buy the materials from abroad. Materials like Goretex and other fabrics are all made in Asia. The merino wool companies buy wool from places like New Zealand or Australia and process it in Asia. If tariffs are placed, those countries might retaliate, and US exports to those places could suffer. Moving manufacturing to the US might save local sales but hurt international sales. A trade war benefits no one and could lead to a major economic downturn.
@Frost
The US doesn’t have the infrastructure or workforce right now to make many of the things we import. It would take a lot of time and money to develop. Plus, we can’t produce some materials here.