Trump Tariff tumult has ripples for sports articles like hockey equipment

By Dave Campbell, sports writer AP

Minneapolis (AP) – Calls from the United States at Roustan headquarters in hockey in Canada in recent weeks have been anything but routine, because the bulk orders of branded sticks have suddenly become complicated conversations.

“These customers want to know: when their orders shipped, will they have to pay an additional 25%price? And we answer by saying:” Well, at the moment, we do not know, so they return their order or cancel their order because they want to know before ordering what the cost will be, “said Graeme Roustan, who owns and sells more than 100,000 hockey sticks in the United States.

The prospect of 25% of President Donald Trump’s prices on Canadian imports, currently interrupted for certain goods, but faced with a complete implementation on Wednesday, caused headache if not wreaking havoc throughout the commercial ecosystem. The sports equipment industry is certainly no exception, with so many products made for sports Americans outside the United States

No country in the world is interspersed athletically more than Canada and the United States are with hockey either, making the trade war speak a pile of spreadsheet – and potentially a budget -business – for companies based on the rink and consumers of their products.

Roustan hockey bought Christian brands and Northland which are from Minnesota and is now making them with other products under its umbrella in Brantford, Ontario, the city where Wayne Gretzky grew up at around 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Toronto. About 40% of Roustan’s activities are with the American market, and around 90% of Gristian and Northland Gear sales go to American customers.

“Our company with the United States is stable at the moment because people are trying to obtain their orders before the prices take effect, but I am very worried that once the prices come into force, there will be people, for example, the Minnesota which will reflect twice before buying a Christian or a stick from Northland because of the 25%price,” said Roustan. “So the unknown is still unknown.”

Many retail hockey equipment comes from Asia, including China. Mexico is another player in the market, which houses a factory for Warrior brand sticks, for example. These countries are also in the price.

“Whether in force for a week or whether it is retracted or whether it is a future date where we will have an ad, everything that makes you very difficult to manage and exploit a business,” said Todd Smith, CEO of Sports & Fitness Industry Association. “The general point of view is discomfort and confusion.”

Roustan bought the Bauer hockey company in Nike in 2008 and supervised this company for four years. As Roustan took control, he said, Bauer-born in Canada in 1927 and an omnipresent name in sport-had moved all of his manufacturing sites in Asia for cost savings on labor and facilities.

“The industry has done admirable manufacturing work around the world while doing as much as they can in the country,” said Smith. “The components produced internationally are made internationally because we do not have the capacity for manufacturing in the United States and that we do not have labor.”

In hockey, of course, a lot of equipment is necessary to take the ice. This equipment is also notoriously expensive, which puts this sport as subject to the pricing tumult than any one. Just in North America, hockey equipment is a company of $ 1.3 billion and growing, as estimated by Grand View, market research. Any additional cost of the import tax will almost certainly fall to the consumer.

Organizations like SFIA has long had an eye on the increase in sports costs for young people, concerned about the effect on participation and pushed to increase accessibility to all activities in disadvantaged communities.

“If people are not aware of it now, they should be aware that prices are bad for sports at all levels,” said Smith.

The emissions will continue to continue, the prices or not

Most families with children in sport are sufficiently busy closing these young athletes to practice and buy the next series of equipment that subjects such as international policy, the world economy and commercial supply chains generally obtain the rear seat.

Could the prices increase the price of hockey sticks? Well, add it to the battery.

For Jeremiah Lamont and his family in Minneapolis, staying above the inventory of equipment for two hockey boys is sufficient on his own. Paying for this is another story, while his 12 -year -old Max son enters each new stage in the competition.

“Youth skates cost around $ 200. Well, his foot increases half a-butt, he cannot enter young people, and now these same skates cost $ 450,” said the current total cost of equipment at more than $ 1,500, some of which must be replaced each year.

Ice and travel time costs are sold separately, of course.

“He likes it. It’s good for him. So we think:” Why not? “” Said Lamont.

The shock of the stickers is real for the beginners of hockey, as Kelley Baer and his family from Colorado discovered it while Brian, 13, made the ice start. Sticks, skates, helmets, tibias guards, elbow and shoulder, chest protectors, neck guards, they all add up.

These sticks do not always last the season either, this piece of vital equipment but perpetually fragile at risk of fracture at a clumsy blow – or in a moment of frustration. In the NHL, a replacement is always ready. A bunch of sticks is a luxury that many young players do not have.

“I say to myself:” No, no, no, no, no! ” It is a stick of $ 400. Do not slam this thing on the ice! Baer said. “We always laugh about it, but it is also very serious. We used it as a gateway to a conversation on the watch your emotions on the ice and how you should be able to contain this as a leader. If you start to lose your head and slam your stick, it is a drawback for you.

Life lessons in sports are as deep as passions that feed this giant slice of economics and culture.

“Yes, it’s expensive and we are lucky in that we can afford it,” said Baer. “He is our child and we love him. We want to support him in what he wants to do, and we will find a way. ”

Originally published: March 31, 2025 at 10:07 a.m.