Are you buying now because you anticipate higher prices?

[amper42]

It will be interesting to see if this one deal really exists and if it actually changes anything. A lot of what is going on now is smoke and mirrors. US President is not happy unless he has a rather large presence in each days news cycle, no matter the topic. I feel like we are all living in one big TV drama. Please take us back to the boring days when I could order a MiniDSP or a Boxem amp and not worry about crazy unforeseen extra charges.

On the same day US-UK trade deal PR the EU sets out 95 billion euro response to U.S. tariffs. That tells us everyone is on the same page? NOT.

 

[knownothing]

My very last order from aliexpress shows the following:
View attachment 449508
The tracker information from the order pages have been removed, and I have my fingers crossed my package arrives state-side soon.

I would contact the seller via the Aliexpress app. That is what I had to do for a linear power supply that was listed for $108 and ordered on 4/8. The seller advised me to request a refund and then paid it several days later. The seller noted shipping limitations and tariffs were so severe they had stopped shipping products to the U.S.

kn

 

[knownothing]

It's time to get yourself some nice UK audio gear.

View attachment 449576

The best time to buy audio gear from the UK was when they approved Brexit and the value of the pound fell by 30 or 40 percent against the dollar. Some screaming deals ordering directly from manufacturers in UK then. Now? Doubtful.

kn

 

[PristineSound]

I just want to say that I appreciate the conversation on this thread. I know this thread has deviated from the original question, but since this topic of trade and tariff has a significantly impact on our hobby as affordability is just as important as excellent measuring and engineered audio products.

I also enjoy the discussion of economics and business grounded in social science. I hope by centering around sound social science it can inform other members including myself on the current situation and combat against any misinformation and disinformation that is scattered throughout the internet.

 

[Marc v E]

It's time to get yourself some nice UK audio gear.

View attachment 449576

The funny thing is that imo after Brexit the UK was dying to do a trade deal with the US, but nobody was interested.

Now however they are both eager to show they get a trade deal. Strange times.

Anyway, good for purchasing English hifi from the States and visa versa, so good for all, I guess.

 

[Willem]

International trade with low or preferably no tariffs is always in everybody's interest.

 

[RickS]

I just want to say that I appreciate the conversation on this thread. I know this thread has deviated from the original question, but since this topic of trade and tariff has a significantly impact on our hobby as affordability is just as important as excellent measuring and engineered audio products.

I also enjoy the discussion of economics and business grounded in social science. I hope by centering around sound social science it can inform other members including myself on the current situation and combat against any misinformation and disinformation that is scattered throughout the internet.

This thread is about the state of the market and the economy. Perhaps was not clear but not allowing much more than statement of the market situation. There are other sites that drill down into political and economic analysis.

Some recent posts that delved into economic analysis have been deleted and members advised to avoid.

 

[xanalog]

[time stamp: most current data]

 

[Somafunk]

It's time to get yourself some nice UK audio gear.

As far as I understand it (which is very....very little) this is more a "we plan/hope/wish to do this for trade between our two nations", it needs ratifying by congress in the U.S. and with agreement in our Parliament.

The way trump is declaring it as a "trade deal" is akin to doing the first mile of the Pacific Crest Trail and declaring to everyone that you've walked it..........then moving on to the next thing............SQUIRREL



........the truth is rather more involving for the next 100 or so days till the deal is through congress.

 

[MattHooper]

Like scratching a phantom limb, I continue to occasionally look through the audio classifieds.

As I mentioned before, I’m in Canada and throughout the years I’ve bought quite a few loudspeakers and other gear from the USA.

It was very often a better deal to buy from the USA and have them shipped to a drop off point within the USA where I would pick them up and drive them across the border (and I would pay any HST etc).

I keep seeing the occasional interesting used item in the US and just for kicks I do the calculation on buying. I have ChatGPT do all the calculations of currency conversion, HST and the current tariffs. And pretty much everything comes out to be double the USA listed price.

I’m glad I got out of this game before this tariff business.

 

[Soandso]

View attachment 449662
[time stamp: most current data]

Those graphics are examples of limited selective data spans. We can't know where the above graphics were created, although it seems to what in USA English is popularly categorized as "cherry picking" of data to serve a narrative. Anyway the left one of the 2 above shows import volume dropping well before any new USA tariffs were formalized and the right graphic above isn't about import volumes, but numbers of vessels with no reference to size of cargos.

Please look below at a July 2024 transport journals' specification that import volume had been rising significantly. It illustrates an artificial trend increase of imports was going on well before the USA general election. And the last chart below confirms the cited journal's prediction that unusually higher imports carried through to December 2024/early January 2025.

Another thing to note from the below screen shot chart's multiple years' time line going back to 2019 and into mid-2024 is how every year there naturally occurs month to month variability in import volumes. That graphic isn't capturing the above 3 months of 2025, but notice in the above (not screen shot below) left chart that in 2024 the 1st 3 months was also a declining phase of imports - 2025 just started after an uncommonly high volume of imports. Similarly, by looking at the last graph below we can see that even at the start of 2023 there was a similar trending clear dip in import volume; which I'll extrapolate to Jan., Feb. and March 2023 so just like the above graph displays for both this year (2025) and last (2024).

 

[Waxx]

That is largely because EU and Chinese companies wants to have enough stock to sit this regime out and shipped all they had to the US before the tarrifs are in place. I think we will see that the trade goes down a lot in the second half of the year, when all ships that took of to the US before the tarrifs have arrived and stocks are full.

 

[respice finem]

Sidenote: The modern universal power supplies facilitate this.
Back in the day, they might have encountered the 220V / 110V power supply problem. Many had no switch.

 

[JustJones]

Got an Email notice that Wharfedale will increase prices May 15. Don't see anything on their website or official news release the Email was from a reseller.

 

[Sokel]

Got an Email notice that Wharfedale will increase prices May 15. Don't see anything on their website or official news release the Email was from a reseller.

McIntosh is having a 15% across the board too, effective June 1st.

 

[knownothing]

“China’s outbound shipments to the U.S. plunged over 21% in April year on year, while imports dropped nearly 14%, official data showed”

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/09/chinas-exports-jump-us-tariffs-imports-tumble.html

 

[amper42]

Companies are always looking for a strategic way to increase prices without consumer revolt. Tariffs are the new cover for price hikes. Even if tariffs disappear the price never drops.

Todays SPY MaxPain = 556
Current price = 567.02
Wouldn't be surprised to see today's close in RED or at least dip to 563 level at some point.
The Tariffs were used to stress test the market.
But currently the move appears to be a slow bounce back to the median.

 

[starfly]

Ehh, I ended up ordering a MiniDSP 2x4 HD. On the MiniDSP site it was marked up by 145%. On Amazon it was a bit cheaper (but not as cheap as pre-tariff prices). Went the Amazon route. Did I absolutely need it? Perhaps not, but I have 2 subs I've been wanting to integrate well for a while now and I finally have the time to deal with it so I went ahead.

Most other purchases I'll be postponing as long as possible though. It's starting to look like at a minimum there will be a 10% tariff on most products (given the deal struck between the UK and US). So an additional 10% sales tax if the manufacturer/importer decides not to absorb the cost. That'll really help the economy!

 

[amper42]

Ehh, I ended up ordering a MiniDSP 2x4 HD. On the MiniDSP site it was marked up by 145%. On Amazon it was a bit cheaper (but not as cheap as pre-tariff prices). Went the Amazon route. Did I absolutely need it? Perhaps not, but I have 2 subs I've been wanting to integrate well for a while now and I finally have the time to deal with it so I went ahead.

Most other purchases I'll be postponing as long as possible though. It's starting to look like at a minimum there will be a 10% tariff on most products (given the deal struck between the UK and US). So an additional 10% sales tax if the manufacturer/importer decides not to absorb the cost. That'll really help the economy!

Yes, inflation was 2.8% before Tariff's. With 10% minimum tariff baked in, likely inflation for 2025 will be close to 4%. Consumers spending may dip now as they attempt to avoid paying the extra toll. I would expect to see two quarters of negative GDP growth in 2025 for US. Recession will be called well after it's over.

Maybe it's time for me to sell my MiniDSP FLEX. lol

 

[Marc v E]

The US-UK deal apparently consists of :

" Here is what the US and the UK announced Thursday: President Donald Trump’s team took the US tax on British imports from 10% to *checks notes* 10%. Yes, it is the exact same tariff rate that Trump announced on April 2, but with some fun new carve-outs:

British cars: That Bentley you’ve had your eye on was going to be taxed at 27.5%, but now it’s only 10%. Great news for that sliver of Americans in the market for a Land Rover, Jaguar, Rolls-Royce or Aston Martin. No other consumer goods were mentioned.
Planes: British companies can now send plane parts to the US tariff-free. In return, British Airways is expected to order 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets, according to Bloomberg.
Steel and aluminum: Taxes on steel and what the Brits call “aluminium” (adorable) will be scrapped.
Beef: Both countries get a bunch of tariff-free exports on commodities including beef and other agricultural products.

That’s honestly it — there are no more details, as both sides said specifics are still being ironed out. It’s not all that surprising, given that traditionally trade deals require months or even years of painstaking talks. "