With the recent news of tariffs being placed on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico, and Europe, you may be wondering as a consumer how this change will impact your life. Both of these metals are obviously critical raw resources for machinery, from airplanes and automobiles to pipelines and - you guessed it - major kitchen and laundry appliances. 
If you aren’t familiar with how tariffs work, they are essentially a tax placed on imported goods by the government. From now on, any steel or aluminum imported to our country’s border will be subject to a 25% tax. This increase in the cost of raw materials will cost manufacturers more money to produce appliances, which in turn will increase the price of appliances to the consumer. According to Gary Shapiro, CEO of Consumer Technology Association (CTA), by ultimately increasing the cost of appliances to manufacturers and consumers, these “tariffs are taxes, plain and simple.” 
As these looming tariffs begin to come into effect, consumers want to know when and how much will they increase the price of home appliances. While we know the official date of when these tariffs come into effect, we can’t actually know when their impact will begin. It really comes down to supply. Since manufacturers purchase steel and aluminum way in advance, many of them are still using the earlier metals to build their appliances so the prices have remained the same. The increase won’t happen until the prior raw materials run out. 
Additionally, while we know these tariffs will, in fact, increase the price of appliances, we can’t actually know by how much until it happens. The increase on tariffs could cause manufacturers to turn to steel and aluminum produced only in America if it’s cheaper than the added cost, or open manufacturing plants outside of the US since the finished product is not subject to tariffs. Either way, we believe it’s inevitable the price of appliances will indeed increase - and possibly by a lot. 
So what can you do as a consumer to avoid the higher price tag? If you are considering an appliance purchase now or in the near future, we highly recommend you do it sooner rather than later. The time to buy is now and we have some of the best deals on appliances to help you out. Visit your nearest Bray & Scarff store to check out our specials or visit our online store today.
If you aren’t familiar with how tariffs work, they are essentially a tax placed on imported goods by the government. From now on, any steel or aluminum imported to our country’s border will be subject to a 25% tax. This increase in the cost of raw materials will cost manufacturers more money to produce appliances, which in turn will increase the price of appliances to the consumer. According to Gary Shapiro, CEO of Consumer Technology Association (CTA), by ultimately increasing the cost of appliances to manufacturers and consumers, these “tariffs are taxes, plain and simple.” As these looming tariffs begin to come into effect, consumers want to know when and how much will they increase the price of home appliances. While we know the official date of when these tariffs come into effect, we can’t actually know when their impact will begin. It really comes down to supply. Since manufacturers purchase steel and aluminum way in advance, many of them are still using the earlier metals to build their appliances so the prices have remained the same. The increase won’t happen until the prior raw materials run out. Additionally, while we know these tariffs will, in fact, increase the price of appliances, we can’t actually know by how much until it happens. The increase on tariffs could cause manufacturers to turn to steel and aluminum produced only in America if it’s cheaper than the added cost, or open manufacturing plants outside of the US since the finished product is not subject to tariffs. Either way, we believe it’s inevitable the price of appliances will indeed increase - and possibly by a lot. So what can you do as a consumer to avoid the higher price tag? If you are considering an appliance purchase now or in the near future, we highly recommend you do it sooner rather than later. The time to buy is now and we have some of the best deals on appliances to help you out. Visit your nearest Bray & Scarff store to check out our specials or visit our online store today.
