The United States has moved forward this week with 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada and increased them an additional 10% from China. These tariffs have affected all the document technology industry manufacturers as many units, parts, and consumables are manufactured in these (among other) countries. Tariffs are levied on the company or persons importing the goods, not the country exporting them. That means the company or persons importing goods would have to either raise prices or absorb the costs themselves. The industry is moving in the direction of passing these increased costs on by raising prices.
HP reassured on pending U.S. tariffs for Canada and Mexico, and an increase in the existing tariffs on China. “As we look ahead, we are managing the current tariff increases on China and have included them in our outlook,” HP CEO Enrique Lores noted. Should additional tariffs be implemented, HP would manage them by leveraging the flexibility of its global supply chain network, along with cost improvements, and pricing actions (increased prices) as needed.
Xerox CFO Mirlanda Gecaj indicated that not just Xerox, but others will be increasing prices: “This is sort of what industry and our peers are doing already. We’re seeing price increases in the market and will follow. We certainly are not in any worse position than our peers in relation to the impact of tariffs in 2025.”
Vietnam, Taiwan, and Thailand are the most exposed to increased U.S. tariffs due to their high export-to-GDP ratios with the United States. In addition to being impacted by the existing tariff’s due to their reliance on China for trade, they’re expected to become the target of their own tariffs. All these countries are heavily involved in the manufacture of office technology and production print equipment.
The last time tariffs hit, we experienced pricing increases of about 15% in some areas, and prices have stayed higher since, with inflation not helping either.
CDS typically does major purchases with our industry partners quarterly, to ensure we have inventory on hand for quick delivery and service response times. This has also allowed us to negotiate better bulk prices that we’re able to pass along to our customers. To help support our customers who placed orders before the tariffs were imposed, and those purchasing inventory we have on-hand, CDS will honor the pre-tariff prices on all orders placed before the end of the month (or as inventory is depleted).
The tariffs primarily affect equipment/supplies in production or transit to CDS, rather than in-stock items. Thankfully CDS has stocked our warehouses with inventory!
We will continue to honor outstanding proposals with Tariff-FREE prices while supplies last! After which, we will be increasing the price on products which become subject to the new tariffs to reflect the tariff amounts and the additional administrative costs incurred in connection with them.
CDS carries a wide inventory of equipment from various manufacturer partners. Your CDS representative can help you find the right equipment, at the right price! Reach out to your representative, or send us a contact request, for further assistance.
The content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Links to third parties are provided as convenience only and are not under our control.
Beyond copiers and printers, CDS offers a full suite of technology solutions ranging from Managed Print Services, to Managed IT Services, and Project-Based IT Services, providing our customers a Single Source for all their business technology needs.
Read More
