TL;DR:
Tariffs on imported goods from China—like our tumblers and accessories—have fluctuated wildly this year, from 10% up to 145%, and now sit at 30% during a temporary 90-day truce. Since Hogg Outfitters continued to import throughout, our costs vary depending on when items arrived. We’ve only raised prices when absolutely necessary and kept increases minimal. As older inventory sells out, you may see gradual price bumps. No need to panic-buy—we’ll keep you stocked and informed.
Questions? Reach out to irene@hoggoutfitters.com.
All the details:
We’ve been getting a lot of questions about our pricing lately, so we thought a detailed blog post on a quick history of tariffs would help! The Stainless Depot has been through price spikes, supply chain chaos, and everything in between—we’re not new to this. We’ve handled it well in the past. Now, we’re committed to doing it even better.
Simply, tariffs are additional taxes the U.S. puts on products from other countries. This increases the landed cost of these products for the seller. This is because the tariff is paid by the importer, Hogg Outfitters, when the product arrives in the USA. Whether it’s stainless steel or sublimation tumblers, accessories, coolers, heat press machines, or simply straws, all items were affected by these tariffs.
For example, if a tumbler cost us $4 to import, and we had a 10% tariff applied, now it costs us $4.40. If that tariff increased to 145%, it would cost us $9.80. If the tariff decreased to 30%, that $4 tumbler would cost $5.20. All of these costs are just on the cost of the product, it doesn’t include shipping, packaging, handling or other costs that might also increase due to tariffs on those inputs.
Because our goal is to always have the product in stock that you are looking for, we continued to import throughout this tariff period. Which means some products we brought in at a 10% tariff, and some at 145%, and everything in between. For many products, we have a blended inventory cost now that was affected by the tariffs. Others, we left the same or were able to eat the increase.
Items that we can keep the price the same, we have. Items that we had to raise, we raised as minimally as possible to stay competitive. In all instances, we’ve attempted to raise our price by the same dollar amount at most, rather than try to maintain a profitability percentage. As an example, if a tumbler went up $1, that’s because it went up $1 or more for us, and so on. Below is a detailed breakdown of the tariffs and when they were in effect this year.
📅 Timeline of U.S. Tariff Actions on China in 2025
February 1, 2025
- Action: President Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, citing national security concerns related to drug trafficking.
March 4, 2025
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Action: The tariff on Chinese imports was increased to 20%.
April 2, 2025 – "Liberation Day"
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Action: A 34% "reciprocal tariff" was added to existing tariffs on Chinese goods, raising the effective rate to 54%.
April 9, 2025
- Action: Tariffs on Chinese imports were further increased to 125%, and shortly thereafter clarified to be 145%.
May 2, 2025
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Action: The U.S. ended the de minimis exemption for low-value imports from China and Hong Kong.
May 12, 2025
- Action: The U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day tariff truce by removing 115% of the 145% total tariff. A tariff on all imported goods of 30% remains during this truce.
As of today, May 14th, 2025, we are subject to the 30% tariff schedule during this 90 day pause. This is significantly better than 145%, but still will gradually increase all of our prices as pre-tariffed inventory is sold through, and tariffed inventory is averaged in.
Our suggestion is to buy what you need to continue business as usual. Some people are stocking up, but we don’t think that’s necessary. Prices may rise gradually, but those increases can be passed on to your customers, or absorbed by you if it doesn’t affect your business.
We appreciate your understanding and continued support as we navigate these changing times. We're dedicated to providing you with quality products and transparent pricing.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at irene@hoggoutfitters.com.
