Tariff policies creating uncertainty, including among camera suppliers

The ongoing global tariff dispute initiated by the Trump Administration is causing supply chain issues, pricing problems, and sleepless nights for wide sectors of the photo imaging industry. From camera hardware and accessories to raw materials and media, there isn’t a segment of the industry that hasn’t felt the impact. Here are some of the top stories for the week:

• Nikon has announced broad price increases: “Due to the recent tariffs, a necessary price adjustment for products will take effect on June 23, 2025. We will be carefully monitoring any tariff developments and may adjust pricing as necessary to reflect the evolving market conditions. We wish to thank our customers for their understanding and know that we are taking every possible step to minimize the impact on our community.
• Fujifilm is looking to restore its camera manufacturing back to Japan, according to DPReview
• Blackmagic Design has increased prices on some cameras by 33%, according to CineD
• Canon has indicated unspecified price increases are coming, according to Digital Camera World
• Sony has already raised the price of compact camera RX100 VII.

Tariff price hikes start to hit the US, with incoming consequences for consumers, says GlobalData

The “merry month of May” has brought little cheer to US consumers and retailers as a result of the US administration’s imposed tariffs, according to GlobalData. A parade of major retailers and FMCG brands reported tariff impacts to their bottom line during the month, with many confirming immediate plans to pass tariff cost increases on to consumers through retail price hikes.

“The US administration has advocated for businesses to shield US consumers from tariffs as far as they can by absorbing price increases themselves, however, many companies are seeing little alternative but to adjust prices upward,” said Richard Parker, Principal Consumer Insights Analyst at GlobalData.

Target reported sales were down more than expected during Q1 2025. This was attributed, amongst other reasons, to consumer concerns over tariffs, and consumer pushback over the company’s internal changes to its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies, at a time when such policies have been a constant point of discussion for the US Administrationm, according to GlobalData. Target expects sales to continue sliding for the rest of the year, although it said that it would only raise prices in response to tariffs as a “last resort”.

The challenges companies are experiencing in the wake of US tariffs are starting to impact performance over the short term, with disruption over the longer term leaving consumers facing a new reality of higher prices for the foreseeable future.

US and global consumer confidence, in markets with exposure to the US administration’s adversarial economic and foreign policies, will be a key metric of interest and concern as 2025 unfolds.

GlobalData’s Q1 2025 global survey revealed 85% of Americans are concerned to some degree over the impact of trade wars and tariffs on the prices of the products they buy; of those, 24% were extremely concerned, and 32% quite concerned. In comparison, in the UK, which has now secured a trade deal with the US, only 16% were extremely concerned, with other Western European countries expressing similar rates.

The data suggests Americans are beginning to more widely understand, and worry about the impact of tariffs on them personally, with a realization that they could be the most likely consumers globally to face wide-ranging consequences to their quality of life and normal consumer behaviors as a result of tariffs.

Corporate coping strategies are likely to have a further impact on consumers’ attitudes and behaviors. Shrinkflation, is one possible response, with prices kept down by reducing a products pack size. This is already a contentious subject globally, but potentially offers a more acceptable means of responding to tariffs than hiking prices.

Discontinuing value product ranges where margins are smaller is another possibility, but this would result in reduced consumer choice and higher average prices.

Although consumers, through the post-COVID cost of living crisis, have sought value-for-money through the increased purchase of private label and discounted product lines, these low margin ranges may make less financial sense for brands and retailers if tariffs are undermining their commercial viability, through for example, driving up imported raw materials costs.

Companies have been boosting inventories to allow them to keep prices fixed for longer, but those inventories are getting smaller, and the drop off in US sea traffic, especially in the West Coast ports visited most heavily by shipping of Chinese-origin, is becoming very conspicuous. As inventories are used up, price rises become inevitable in the near-to-medium term.

“The impact of US tariffs is becoming more real for American consumers with each passing day, as some domestic goods become more expensive, and popular brands’ signal their unwillingness to absorb all of the on-costs associated with tariffs,” said Parker. “Consumer behavior in the US is likely to see a shift towards more cost-cutting strategies at a rate higher than other global markets, such as brand switching, buying more private label, cutting spend, or simply deleting products from their shopping baskets.”