USA Tariffs May affect Canon Cameras and Japanese Camera Equipment

The US Government has announced sweeping tariffs on multiple countries, including Japan. The tariffs are 24% on any goods originating from Japan.

These tariffs are expected to go into place on April 9th, 2025, barring any intervention by the US Government. However, we have seen tariffs being proposed and then later delayed or canceled repeatedly for the last two months, so anything is possible. Significant market losses could influence the US government's tariff decisions.

A tariff on goods entering the USA is not a tax on the originating country; it's paid by the importer. So, in this case, Canon USA would pay the tariff fees to the US government. Canon USA would then choose to pass that additional cost onto the retailers and customers. 

The same applies to all Japanese camera manufacturers, so this could be a major blow to one of the largest camera equipment regions globally. Purchasing grey market goods doesn't prevent tariffs, either, as the tariff is based on the manufacturer's originating country.

AP News talks about how quickly the tariffs will cause prices to rise.

It depends on how businesses both in the United States and overseas respond, but consumers could see overall prices rising within a month or two of tariffs being imposed. For some products, such as produce from Mexico, prices could rise much more quickly after the tariffs take effect.

Some U.S. retailers and other importers may eat part of the cost of the tariff, and overseas exporters may reduce their prices to offset the extra duties. But for many businesses, the tariffs Trump announced Wednesday — such as 20% on imports from Europe — will be too large to swallow on their own.

Companies may also use the tariffs as an excuse to raise prices. When Trump slapped duties on washing machines in 2018, studies later showed that retailers raised prices on both washers and dryers, even though there were no new duties on dryers.

Margins on cameras, lenses, etc., are usually quite small, so there's a good chance that the entire 24% is passed onto consumers. However, the percentage increase may vary.  

We strongly recommend considering what you want to purchase over the next 3-4 months and deciding if you can purchase it more quickly than you had originally anticipated. This is especially true for items in demand, such as new Canon RF L lenses, Canon EOS R1, or Canon EOS R5 Mark II cameras, and so forth, as these wouldn't have a large standing inventory in Canon or USA retailers.  If you weren't going to purchase until we get into the summer or fall of this year, I would take a wait-and-see approach, as the looming trade wars may have simmered down by then.