US China Trade War: Impact on Scuba industry

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

A significant portion of diving equipment comes in from China. These include fins, masks, wet-suits, BCDs, boots and regulators. How is the scuba industry viewing US-China trade war? All thoughts and opinions welcome.

CS...

When the shelves in the LDS are empty...or we start seeing price increases over the standard 130%/150% markup we can start to get concerned...and I don't believe for a minute either are going to happen any-time soon...scuba gear doesn't begin to account for one grain of sand in the whole of the Sahara desert...

The problem does not lie so much with the guy sitting in the big chair in Beijing...as it does with the two guys sitting in the big chairs in Ottawa and Washington...

We're currently holding the telephone princess in a mansion...on house arrest...on the tax-payers dime... at the bequest of Washington...we have Canadians being held in China on trumped up charges because of it...

As of yesterday the the topic in vogue is now who is going to sell lobsters to China...and who isn't...and it looks like Canada is in...and the US is out...tomorrow it will be something else...don't hold your breath waiting for scuba gear to become a topic of tariff discussion...

There's a hell of a lot more at stake than masks...fins and snorkels...

W...
 
CS...

When the shelves in the LDS are empty...or we start seeing price increases over the standard 130%/150% markup we can start to get concerned...and I don't believe for a minute either are going to happen any-time soon...scuba gear doesn't begin to account for one grain of sand in the whole of the Sahara desert...

The problem does not lie so much with the guy sitting in the big chair in Beijing...as it does with the two guys sitting in the big chairs in Ottawa and Washington...

We're currently holding the telephone princess in a mansion...on house arrest...on the tax-payers dime... at the bequest of Washington...we have Canadians being held in China on trumped up charges because of it...

As of yesterday the the topic in vogue is now who is going to sell lobsters to China...and who isn't...and it looks like Canada is in...and the US is out...tomorrow it will be something else...don't hold your breath waiting for scuba gear to become a topic of tariff discussion...

There's a hell of a lot more at stake than masks...fins and snorkels...

W...
The shelves in the LDS’s are already
almost empty, and that was before the tariffs. Over 100% markup at retail locations doesn’t work anymore with the invention of the internet.
 
They’ll have to change the sign in front of the Dollar Store to the Two Dollar Store.
That’s only if prices double.
Yeah, that will break the bank!

ES...

I get my reg bags from the Dollar Store...some might refer to them as zippered nylon lunch bags...

four dollars...as opposed to forty dollars because there is no ScubaPro brand inked on them...all the colours too...even black...

I may have to start paying six dollars...God forbid I should have to start paying eight...

Best...

W...
 
The shelves in the LDS’s are already
almost empty, and that was before the tariffs. Over 100% markup at retail locations doesn’t work anymore with the invention of the internet.

Yes...

And that started long before Mr. Trump...and Mr. Trudeau...

God does work in mysterious ways...

Best...

W.
 
They’ll have to change the sign in front of the Dollar Store to the Two Dollar Store.
...... :-( I remember when they were called the Five and Dime. (That's five cents, not dollars.)
 
More than just China to watch on the tariffs, too. Aqualung BCDs are made in Mexico, and I suspect a few other US companies may utilize the same factory for some of their BCDs. Would be interested to hear if anyone else has specific knowledge on that one.

But new Mexico tariffs seem to be averted... for now...
 
I am finding this thread.. interesting because of so many interesting assumptions and declarations.

Lots of dive gear is still made in China, less than last year and FAR less than 5 years ago.

Wages in China went up, environmental protections started to kick in and factories started to move or close. This also happened in Europe 10-15 years ago. Made worse by the shrinking gear sales of the worldwide industry which is only slightly slowed by expansion in Asia at retail that has started to cool last 3 years.

Most dive equipment from China is actually duty free to the US, BUT..they are part of the new 300-350 billion in tariffs that President Trump has threatened but has not been implemented yet. If so, that WILL leave a mark for some in the industry but for me.. not much because I actually don't have hardly anything made in China, and have alternative sources elsewhere.
 
I am finding this thread.. interesting because of so many interesting assumptions and declarations.

Lots of dive gear is still made in China, less than last year and FAR less than 5 years ago.

Wages in China went up, environmental protections started to kick in and factories started to move or close. This also happened in Europe 10-15 years ago. Made worse by the shrinking gear sales of the worldwide industry which is only slightly slowed by expansion in Asia at retail that has started to cool last 3 years.

Most dive equipment from China is actually duty free to the US, which is part of the new 300-350 billion in tariffs that Pres
Can anyone name a reliable scuba equipment originated from the place?

I can name “Deep 6” but that is from FREE China(Republic of China).
ummm.. we have lots but not all made in Taiwan (free china) but we are originated in the states. I can also name lots of other brand gear made in Taiwan, and much less in China.. other than BCD's that come out of HIL for many large brands(but less since one big brand bought a BCD factory in Vietnam)
 
Americans have always been blindly addicted to a cheap price. It’s the first thing they look at. They are all about the money and don’t have enough vision to see the eventuality if their decisions.
But just because one item made in China may be half of what a similar item made in USA is, Americans are still broke because they just buy more crap all made in China...because it’s cheap. This leads to rampant consumerism. Instead of one great HD hair dryer made in USA that lasts for years and has parts available, now you buy 5 hair dryers made in China, there are no parts available and they all burn out within a few years and go into a land fill. At one time you had a choice if you wanted to spend more money for better quality, there were a few US manufacturers left. They are all gone. Now you have a choice of cheap Chinese crap or a more expensive Chinese crap (not necessarily better).

Americans are all proud as they pretend to be green while they’re driving to Walmart to load their carts with more disposable Chinese crap.
Just go down the the port of Oakland or Long Beach and look at how many ships come in each day and how many shipping containers get offloaded. It’s staggering.
One company offshores to cut costs and they all have to do it.
It’s been going on for 45 years.
How come our government let it go for so long? It’s to the point of a national security crisis now. We don’t produce enough stuff here anymore to survive as a country if there ever was a crisis.
We made a deal with the devil.
What we need to do is complete the second half or the domestic side of this deal. Give upstart manufacturers of goods cheap money backed by our government and huge tax incentives if they make their stuff here. Every component of their product that is not made here suffers the tariff. That way it’s not an all or nothing proposition.
We need to take our medicine.
yup, even circuit boards for the F-35 are made in China.. even if they are actually not per say an issue, should any country be not able to make parts for their own fighter aircraft?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom