8 Ways Tariffs May Impact Climbing Gear

In early April, the Trump administration imposed new tariffs—taxes on imports—on trading partners worldwide in order to encourage manufacturing at home and recalibrate the scales of global trade in favor of the United States. Needless to stay, the global stock market has been rocky since, leaving consumers and businesses wondering what’s next.

Currently, the U.S. has imposed a 10% baseline tariff on global imports, and has escalated tariffs on Chinese imported goods to 125%. Trump has also placed reciprocal tariffs—which match the rate at which other nations tax U.S. goods—on a 90-day pause. The exceptions are goods from Mexico and Canada, which, depending on product type, may now either be imported tariff-free, at 25%, or at 10%.

Since the tariff situation is far from resolved, neither is our analysis. But wherever the tariffs land, they’re sure to change the gear landscape. We reached out to climbing brands to get their take on the current tariff situation. Their insights helped us form some predictions about how the climbing gear industry may be impacted—and therefore how you, the climbing consumer, may be impacted, too. Here are eight ways the new U.S. tariffs may impact climbing gear.

1. The cost of climbing gear will rise, perhaps by 25-50% or more

The most obvious tariff takeaway is that climbing gear will become more expensive. Tariffs aren’t typically absorbed by companies, rather they’re passed on to the consumer. This means that any given climbing product will likely see a price increase on par with the specific tariff that the United States imposed on the country where it’s manufactured.

This price increase will occur whether the product is from an American company that manufactures abroad, or an international company that manufactures abroad. The tariffs will also impact the price of products from an American company that manufactures within the United States, but sources raw materials internationally.

Of course with the volatility of the tariff rollout and the trade war still active, it’s difficult to say exactly where tariffs–and thus price hikes—will land. While Mike St. Pierre, founder and CEO of Hyperlite, acknowledges it’s too soon to fully understand how tariffs will impact the gear industry, he says that “one thing is certain”: prices will rise. “Even if temporary, prices will be going up for almost every product in our industry,” St. Pierre says. While Jenny Fischer, CEO of OCÚN North America, sees the tariff situation as unpredictable, she agrees: “If the tariffs stick, prices will have to increase, but we all want to minimize that as much as possible.”

So how much will prices rise? Nathan Kukathas, founder and owner of Grade VII (G7) Equipment, based in Squamish, British Columbia, has an estimate for the outdoor industry. He predicts prices “will need to rise by at least 25-50% in the U.S.” for brands to stay profitable. (Though he did provide this estimate prior to the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs and the increase of the tariffs on Chinese goods to 125%.) This estimate only takes into account tariffs on the end product—not on imported raw materials.

2. More expensive gear—like mountaineering boots or a full trad rack—might become cost-prohibitive for many climbers

While a 25-50% price increase might not be a huge deal for less expensive products like chalk or carabiners, they will be sorely felt with more technical and expensive products. In some cases, high price point gear could become cost-prohibitive for some climbers.

“A $20 stuff sack increasing to $26 is not ideal, but many people will absorb the increase,” explains Kukathas. “For a pair of boots, $300 might become $425 …. that’s a much bigger impact for the consumer to absorb on a single purchase.”

Our speculation: This could mean that fewer climbers start getting into disciplines that require pricier equipment, like alpinism, big wall climbing, or trad climbing. Perhaps we’ll see more climbers focus on bouldering or sport climbing as a result. It could also mean that veteran alpinists and trad climbers hold off on replacing big-ticket items until the market stabilizes.

3. Innovation in climbing gear might suffer

As gear companies struggle with supply chain challenges and increasing costs—with a possible corresponding decrease in demand—they may prioritize tried-and-true products over more experimental, innovative products. The R&D costs of bringing truly pioneering gear to market may fall victim to tightening budgets and more conservative corporate risk-taking.

“Companies are going to cut back on innovation,” says Tom Kvilhaug, a packs and equipment designer at Cotopaxi. “Most brands are working on razor-thin margins already, and now with added costs of dealing with tariffs, you can expect brands to double-down on high-margin, high-volume products in their lines.”

Kvilhaug explains that it will become harder to convince leadership to invest in “pie-in-the-sky” gear ideas, instead of leaning on products that reliably drive sales and offer a better return on investment.

“This won’t be immediate, but if these tariffs stick, I expect to see far less truly innovative products coming into the market over the next few years,” he says. “In the grand scheme of things, that’s not the most significant consequence of the Trump tariffs. But at least for me, maybe it’s the most disappointing.”

4. Climbing gear quality could also suffer

As companies look to cut costs and compete in a slow or an unpredictable market, they may look for more line items to cut from budgets. This might mean, for example, that premium materials get swapped out for lower-quality materials to increase profit margins.

Furthermore, if some brands do decide to move manufacturing to new locations in order to compete on cost or escape tariffs, a decline in skilled labor is a possible side effect. Kukathas of G7 emphasizes that sewers and workers become highly skilled at making certain products over time; if manufacturing relocates, the product would be made by less experienced sewers and workers, which could negatively impact quality.

“The skills required for accurate assembly of our products are not easy to develop, let alone master,” Kukathas says. “It’s not just knowledge, it is artisanal craftsmanship that only years of working with one’s hands can yield.”

5. Small gear businesses will be hit especially hard

If prices rise and demand slows, smaller companies with less capacity to absorb smaller margins and other financial challenges may be disproportionately impacted. While the big brands of climbing and major retailers may be able to weather a tough few years, the mom-and-pop shops and small startup brands could struggle to remain in the game.

“Any business—but especially a small business—is going to struggle to stay in business,” says Ryan Jenks, the founder of HowNot2, a small online climbing gear retailer. Jenks also operates a popular YouTube Channel and Instagram account by the same name, with videos focused on gear myths, tips, and testing. Last week, he posted a video to his channel explaining how tariffs will make climbing gear more expensive.

While Jenks says he’s committed to keeping the gear he carries for climbing, canyoneering, and caving as affordable as possible, he’s at a loss on how to do that if tariffs on China and other countries hold strong.

In addition to small retailers, startups and scrappy brands may face disproportionate hardships, too. Matt Hidalgo, CEO and founder of ZIGZAG Climbing based in Oregon, says, “This poses a particular threat for start-ups who have limited market share, less operating capital, and typically higher manufacturing costs.”

As hard costs increase and supply chain challenges arise, many businesses will face hard choices ahead. “Paying an extra 145% of your cost of goods is unreasonable for any company,” says Fischer with OCÚN. “The ability to bring those goods in, absorb the additional costs, and still be able to meet their financial needs from an operations standpoint is totally unrealistic for many companies.”

6. Expect fewer gear options and smaller inventory

As brands pull back on innovation and take measures to secure their business, they might also pare down product lines to optimize margins. If market demand drops due to rising costs and a slow market, Kukathas says that he expects the outdoor industry to experience “a contraction of product options.” He explains that as retailers and brands lower their forecasts and seasonal buys, this could result in less overall inventory and fewer product choices.

Hidalgo of ZIGZAG agrees with that assessment. He explains that since the U.S. is a massive market for climbing, American climbers have enjoyed easy access to gear from all over the world. But he predicts that will soon change: “With the steep new tariffs, and how they compound for international sales, that access will more than likely shrink.”

Jenks explains that the possibility of a more homogenous climbing gear market is disappointing.  “I’m going to have to work twice as hard to produce the same variety and value for customers,” he says. “Less cool, new products will come to the market. Less variety will be in the market. And prices will go up.” He says that he’d be able to live with these impacts if the tariffs would pay off the national debt—an outcome he doesn’t foresee happening.

Jon Thorpe, the owner of Midnight Lightning, based in British Columbia, says he’s already hearing about shifting consumer habits, including less spending and skipping out on non-essentials. “We expect a global downturn in general, which will affect all climbing brands to different extents,” Thorpe says.

7. Climbing gear companies aren’t planning to move manufacturing to the United States

Thanks to retaliatory tariffs, numerous logistical hurdles, lack of skilled labor, and the cost of doing business in the United States, none of the brands we spoke with anticipated moving production to avoid tariffs. Furthermore, any imported materials would also be taxed, so even most U.S.-based manufacturing can’t escape the impacts of tariffs.

“Since we have well-established partners whom we have built strong working relationships with to produce our quality goods, we do not foresee moving any production to the U.S. at this time,” Thorpe with Midnight Lightning says. “There are other reasons for holding the course and not investing in/reshoring in the U.S., including cost and time to move manufacturing, hostilities towards other nations, lack of stable course in administration, etc.”

Kukathas also had a host of reasons why it wouldn’t make sense to move manufacturing to the United States, including the dearth of skilled labor, the costs of relocating, the fact that most raw materials (like technical textiles) would still need to be imported (and thus taxed), and retaliatory tariffs.

Furthermore, the headache of moving manufacturing to the United States might do nothing to dodge price hikes, since it would be more expensive to operate. “The cost of implementing manufacturing in the U.S. would [have] the same impact on prices, if not more, than what the tariffs are,” says Fischer with OCÚN. “I would be surprised if somebody said … that moving manufacturing to the U.S. was a financially viable solution for this, especially in the climbing industry.”

Fischer agrees with Kukathas that the United States lacks the infrastructure or skilled labor to manufacture climbing gear, even if it did make financial sense. “High-performance climbing shoes are generally not an easily transferable production,” Fischer explains. “We’re talking about a skilled labor force that has been in development for years to decades. It’s not something you can recreate elsewhere in a few weeks.”

8. The used climbing gear market will likely become hotter

All of the above leads us to reason that as new products become more costly, used products will be in hotter demand. But in the sport of climbing, choosing used isn’t always so easy, as we recently broke down in our recent guide to buying used climbing gear. Hard goods are often fair game, so long as they’re in good condition, but buying used ropes, draws, and other soft climbing goods can be unsafe if you’re unsure what to look for. Regardless, as the price tags on new goods rise, we expect to see more demand (and thus less inventory) in the used climbing gear market, from online consignment to local gear shops that carry used products.

And buckle up, shoe resolers. We’d also anticipate an increase in demand for climbing repair services, namely climbing cobblers who give our shoes a second life or sewers who can fix that stuck zipper in our puffers.

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