HMT Statement on Tariffs
April 18, 2025
Tariffs are on the minds of many of our customers, as they have been with manufacturers, distributors and retailers all over the world in this period of major uncertainty. We wanted to expound on some background as it affects business at HMT. Some of the companies we work with manufacture instruments & accessories in China, India, Pakistan, Europe, etc. Most of these companies are based in the US and do final assembly/setup here, supporting many US jobs. Some companies manufacture their products in the US (you can see these in our Made In the USA collection). However in some cases, US-made products use imported parts & supplies, so they may be affected by tariffs as well.
We have been hearing from several of our suppliers as they try to navigate this very uncertain landscape with ever-changing tariff policies, or threats of them in the future. Most companies will not raise the wholesale costs to HMT IF the inventory is in a US warehouse and brought into the country before pre-tariff impositions. HMT will not take part in any gouging or speculative manipulation by altering prices in anticipation of any monetary increases.
Most of our suppliers have Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policies, where authorized dealers are not permitted to advertise below MAP. This levels the playing field and protects small retailers like us, in particular. As suppliers announce price increases due to tariffs, we are obligated to update our advertised pricing under these policies. In some cases, we may have inventory on hand that was obtained before the price increases. Our store policy is to sell inventory at the price it was obtained for at the time - so occasionally, prices may be lower "in-store" than what we can advertise online.
Our best advice to consumers is to "stay tuned", and calculate your future purchases using good common sense. Again, we encourage you to browse the Made In USA products that we carry - and also remember that used instruments are not subject to tariffs. We stock a large, ever-changing selection of high-quality pre-owned instruments.
Thanks for your continued support, particularly of independent retailers like HMT. Nobody in this industry wants to undergo these challenges, but we'll navigate them as best we can.
- House of Musical Traditions (since 1972)