Stores that import musical instruments hit hard by Trump's tariffs

Over the years, there's been a decline in the manufacture of musical instruments in the U.S. A large portion come from overseas. Now, tariffs are causing a big jump in costs for music stores.

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Most of President Trump's tariffs have now kicked in. The Budget Lab at Yale says the average import tax rate is 18.6%. That's the highest it's been since 1933, and that affects all sorts of businesses that buy things abroad - clothing, parts for vehicles and musical instruments. There are only a few companies that make band instruments in the United States, so many businesses import them from overseas, especially from the European Union and China. For young players and their parents, buying that new instrument could be more expensive. Reporter Julie Denesha from member station KCUR reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUMPET PLAYING)

JULIE DENESHA, BYLINE: In the back room of Austin Custom Brass, owner Trent Austin often tests the brass instruments he sells, like the high-end custom trumpet he's playing to entry-level horns for students just starting out.

TRENT AUSTIN: We are a very niche boutique business. We sell brass instruments and only brass instruments. That's trumpets, trombones, euphoniums, tubas and the like.

DENESHA: A basic student instrument runs about $500, but a top-tier trumpet can cost upwards of $5,000. Although Austin gets a few local customers in his showroom, his business is almost exclusively online. After he took office, President Trump launched a trade war, threatening and imposing tariffs on countries around the world. It's been a rough ride for small businesses that import goods from abroad.

AUSTIN: I'm getting these bills that are shockingly high. But I've already sold the product, so what do I do?

DENESHA: In April, when a tariff on two preordered instruments from Germany jumped from a hundred and fifty dollars to a thousand dollars, Austin absorbed the cost. Recently, Trump announced a preliminary deal with the EU that reduced a threatened 30% tariff on nearly all goods from EU member states to 15%.

AUSTIN: It is quite confusing. And honestly, to be perfectly blunt, I'm paralyzed.

DENESHA: But what Austin has done is raise his prices for the first time in 2 1/2 years. And he says...

AUSTIN: We're going to just stop ordering.

DENESHA: Stop ordering from overseas. Instead, he's trying to find manufacturers closer to home, which is difficult to do. Larry Wigger, an economist from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, says it's been chaotic for small business owners like Austin because they need stability to plan their next move.

LARRY WIGGER: There was so much back-and-forth on again, off again that nobody trusted anything. And now that things are slowing down a little bit and some things are sticking, OK, now I can change my planning 'cause this looks like it's going to stay.

DENESHA: Mike Meyer, co-owner of Meyer Music, specializes in beginners' instruments for students. He says rising costs have long pushed manufacturers to make instruments elsewhere.

MIKE MEYER: I've been watching this unfold for 30 years of manufacturing exiting America. I've seen them jump from Japan, Indonesia then Taiwan then China. And so where do they go next? You know, that's kind of where a lot of, I think, those manufacturers are going to be looking because of this tariff issue.

DENESHA: Meyer says he's insulated from tariff pressure, at least in the short term.

MEYER: We do a lot of rental business.

DENESHA: He rents roughly 6- to 7,000 instruments each year. A new trumpet that rents for about $46 a month can be returned and used again and again.

MEYER: So I have, I think, a little bit more breathing room than the average guy that is just selling the trumpet does. But if the tariffs raise the prices of these things, I might look to the used market while this thing plays out.

DENESHA: And at Austin Custom Brass, backroom testing continues.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUMPET PLAYING)

AUSTIN: Thank you. I'll be here all week.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.

DENESHA: Trent Austin says he hopes the tariff war will soon be over.

AUSTIN: If you want to raise rates, that's great, but you've got to give retailers time to plan and prepare. We had no time.

DENESHA: Now he'd just like the administration to play a different tune.

For NPR News, I'm Julie Denesha in Kansas City.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.