Canon USA Pricing To Increase Due to Tariffs?

[HMC11]

Canon USA rep & senior meeting with at least two retailers on Monday.

If I get the tidbits that will come up in that meeting, I probably won't be allowed to write about it.

What a teaser . Couch it as a rumour then...... e.g. "From unmentionable sources, it seems that Canon would absorb the tariff for the foreseeable future..... "

 

[el peso]

This measure without any doubt protects all well-known USA photo equipment makers. For sure.

 

[ValueTech]

"From unmentionable sources, it seems that Canon would absorb the tariff for the foreseeable future..... "

You should stop daydreaming because when reality hits, it'll be even more painful^^ Prices for imported goods will roughly go up by the tariffs percentage, unless those tariffs are revoked. That's what the majority voted for last year.

 

[frankchn]

Amazon has started canceling some Sony A1II preorders: https://petapixel.com/2025/04/04/the-sony-a1-ii-shortage-worsens-as-amazon-cancels-pre-orders/

I don't think the retailers or the manufacturers are going to eat the price increase much.

 

[David_B]

It isn't just Japan. For APS-C or other things made elsewhere in South East Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, China), there are also tarriff hikes:

Japan: 34%
Thailand: 46%
China: 44%
Vietnam: 56%

Of course the solution to this is for Canon to start making all its stuff locally in the USA

 

[David_B]

Cameras are purchased with discretionary income. With the broad economic impact of tariffs there will be less of that for many people. It's too soon to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if the camera industry tanked.

for businesses, it is a bit different, and the end result is that you'll see wedding photographers that are new to the game (or that upgrade) will need to increase their prices ever so slightly to take into account the increase of their supply costs. this will contribute to what consumers thnk of as inflationary price increases.
What is eBay doing, I wonder? Do tarriffs target used goods or just new?

 

[Del Paso]

Come to Australia
Canon pricing has been at or lower than the USA pricing for a while now (besides refurb).

Our government has ruled out retaliatory tariffs as it just increases local prices for imported goods and hurts our inflation. We even run a deficit with the USA for all that helped us.

Trumps government doesn’t like that ours negotiates a medicine subsidy scheme at a country level keeping pricing reasonable. If it isn’t in the scheme then they can charge what they like (and do so).
They also don’t like our bio security laws keeping diseases at bay from our island but the US loves our wagyu and Big Macs will cost more there too!

We will certainly not holiday in the US for a long time to come.

Perhaps wealthy US citizens will get a 24% tax cut so their costs will offset. No promises of that yet

This year, I'll spend my vacation in Japan.
But in 2026, I had plans to visit some eastern coast states in the USA. Yet, with the reported behavior of many TSA agents towards foreign tourists, I have cancelled my plans and will visit Iceland instead. No need to mention other reasons...
I never had any negative experiences during my USA travels, but, sadly, times seem to have changed. Next USA tour: not before 2029.

 

[Del Paso]

It isn't just Japan. For APS-C or other things made elsewhere in South East Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, China), there are also tarriff hikes:

Japan: 34%
Thailand: 46%
China: 44%
Vietnam: 56%

Of course the solution to this is for Canon to start making all its stuff locally in the USA

I hope not!
Europe will tax, as a retaliatory measure, many US imports, but not Japanese ones...

 

[David_B]

For people buying from eBay, etc, a detail from this Trump movee that's not widely being reported on is that the previous $800 lower limit for duties is being abolished. What this means is that buying a lens from Japan directly on something like ebay for $500 would have been duty free a month ago, but if it were $2500, then it would be hit with duties. Now the $500 lens is hit with tarriffs & duties, just like the $2500 lens.

 

[neuroanatomist]

For people buying from eBay, etc, a detail from this Trump movee that's not widely being reported on is that the previous $800 lower limit for duties is being abolished. What this means is that buying a lens from Japan directly on something like ebay for $500 would have been duty free a month ago, but if it were $2500, then it would be hit with duties. Now the $500 lens is hit with tarriffs & duties, just like the $2500 lens.

The de minimis (under $800) duty exemption was eliminated back in February. A couple of days later it was restored because Customs couldn’t deal with the volume.

 

[David_B]

The de minimis (under $800) duty exemption was eliminated back in February. A couple of days later it was restored because Customs couldn’t deal with the volume.

That's what you might have expected due to the executive order signed back then. What actually happened is that the elimination of de minimis in Feb 2025 was reversed because it wasn't able to be implemented and will actually take effect from May 2025. Whether or not it gets reversed again because it can't be implemented is yet to be seen.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/03/de-minimis-trade-loophole-to-end-may-2-white-house-says.html

 

[David_B]

I wonder what this will do to upcoming products - will this alter the features that go into products so that newer cameras can hit a lower price point (pre-tarriff) so that consumers can go back to buying $1000 cameras rather than $1400 cameras.

 

[neuroanatomist]

That's what you might have expected due to the executive order signed back then. What actually happened is that the elimination of de minimis in Feb 2025 was reversed because it wasn't able to be implemented and will actually take effect from May 2025. Whether or not it gets reversed again because it can't be implemented is yet to be seen.

Yes. That’s what I wrote. The exemption was eliminated then restored almost immediately.

 

[David - Sydney]

for businesses, it is a bit different, and the end result is that you'll see wedding photographers that are new to the game (or that upgrade) will need to increase their prices ever so slightly to take into account the increase of their supply costs. this will contribute to what consumers thnk of as inflationary price increases.
What is eBay doing, I wonder? Do tarriffs target used goods or just new?

These are broad/country-based tariffs affecting everything that is physically imported through US customs albeit with the current USD800 threshold. Tariffs can be levied based on on HTS codes for the type of product whether new or used as far as I know https://hts.usitc.gov/
Local pricing for used items that were sourced before the tariffs should rise if the seller understands the current new market pricing.

At least there are a couple a laughs or at least myriad of memes for Heard&McDonald Island's penguins being tariffed 10% but the islands are uninhabited... or that Norfolk Island is tariffed at 29% even though they are both part of Australia.
Diego Garcia is another weird one with it being part of the UK but it is totally inhabited by ~4000 US soldiers ie he is tariffing the US!
The calculation he used to determine how much other countries tariffed against the US is laughable.

 

[David - Sydney]

This year, I'll spend my vacation in Japan.
But in 2026, I had plans to visit some eastern coast states in the USA. Yet, with the reported behavior of many TSA agents towards foreign tourists, I have cancelled my plans and will visit Iceland instead. No need to mention other reasons...
I never had any negative experiences during my USA travels, but, sadly, times seem to have changed. Next USA tour: not before 2029.

Japan is great and Iceland is amazing
I didn't have any "unusual" issues with TSA during my recent trip to Florida/NY.

Palau is my next stop in a couple of weeks. It will be interesting to hear their direct experience with the cancellation of USAID.

Palau is a sovereign nation but has a COFA with the US.
"Eligible Palau citizens are able to serve in the U.S. armed forces, and do so at a higher rate per capita than any U.S. state."
They use the USD and have about 20,000 citizens but would be highly susceptible to income changes.
Qantas now has a direct flight to/from there once a week... A lot more Aussies will be visiting there now.
https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-palau/

 

[Del Paso]

These are broad/country-based tariffs affecting everything that is physically imported through US customs albeit with the current USD800 threshold. Tariffs can be levied based on on HTS codes for the type of product whether new or used as far as I know https://hts.usitc.gov/
Local pricing for used items that were sourced before the tariffs should rise if the seller understands the current new market pricing.

At least there are a couple a laughs or at least myriad of memes for Heard&McDonald Island's penguins being tariffed 10% but the islands are uninhabited... or that Norfolk Island is tariffed at 29% even though they are both part of Australia.
Diego Garcia is another weird one with it being part of the UK but it is totally inhabited by ~4000 US soldiers ie he is tariffing the US!
The calculation he used to determine how much other countries tariffed against the US is laughable.

If only tariffing penguins wasn't the only absurdity...
Each day brings in a new rich harvest of insanity.

 

[John Wilde]

Canon will release their next set of financial documents on April 24. They should include some kind of comment on tariffs. That's a financial subject that's hard to ignore.

 

[vikingar]

I hope Canon doesn't use the tariffs as an excuse to raise prices globally, specifically in Europe.

I've already seen Covid, inflation, increased energy prices due to war, etc. There's always a convenient reason / excuse to increase prices for everything, but rarely do they go back down afterwards.

If Canon sees US customers are willing to pay more, i.e. their sales not falling off a cliff, who knows what they'll do in Europe.

 

[Old Sarge]

Tank or not, it will mean a further shift to high end products. Over the past several years, the FF portion of ILC sales has gone from 10% to 25%. People with higher incomes will see a bigger absolute effect of the tariffs, but the relative reduction of their discretionary income will be much smaller. For me, the R1 could have been priced $1500 higher and I would not have blinked.

You are one of my favorite rich people and I don't doubt you are right. My situation is far different. Although, unlike many of my boomer contemporaries (technically I'm a pre-boomer). Social Security is not my major income. But my monthly retirement payments simply cover a moderate style of life. But some small investments have given me some peace of mind and income that you might call discretionary (I call it my fun money). What I tend to refer to as poor decisions by politicians have now removed my peace of mind, and cut down my fun money. So I am the opposite end of the spectrum.

 

[David_B]

And with today's announcement, or is that yesterday now, tarrif margins changed because all of those foreign leaders called and not because the stock market took a dive. I wonder when we'll have grown ups back in charge again.