 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: m1964
Date: 2025-10-26 05:31
Received an email from NYC woodwinds:
"Buffet Crampon has just announced a roughly 7% price increase across the board, effective November 1, 2025. This extends to all Buffet clarinets and saxes, Keilwerth saxes and Powell flutes...
New instruments will still be available at old pricing till the end of October. If we don’t have something available, we may also be able to order from Buffet’s available stock."
So, here is the final result of the new tariffs, on Buffet products.I would expect Selmer to have a similar price increase. Not sure about Yamaha.
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2025-10-26 17:44
Dan Shusta wrote:
> m1964,
>
> Something is wrong with the 7% price increase effective Nov. 1,
> 2025.
>
> Trump imposed a 15% tariff on items from France back in August.
>
>
> To me, this is simply Buffet raising their prices by 7% for
> whatever reason. After Nov. 1, 2025, buyers of new Buffet
> clarinets from NYC Woodwinds will have to pay Buffet's 7% price
> increase along with Trump's 15% tariff.
> Post Edited (2025-10-26 11:11)
Hi Dan:
When I read your post I was tempted to draw the conclusion that you think the Buffet price increase and tariffs are separate events, and moreover that the end consumer is the one who pays for the cost of a tariff when in fact that cost is split between buyer and seller.
As you may know, a tariff, which is nothing more than a tax imposed on a foreign entity, is a cost that is split by buyer and seller based on the extent each can force the other to pay that increase. This depends on the relative strength of the consumer to absorb such costs, what other alternatives exist in the marketplace, and to what extent the seller can force the buyer to absorb these costs (a.k.a. price elasticity.)
For example, in the case of cigarettes, an addictive substance, much of the price increase falls on the consumer. Conversely, Chinese satellite price increases may hit the producer more as other countries produce them as well.
That there exists a time difference between when such tariffs were issued and when consumer prices increased can, as you point out, be explained by not raising costs until inventory on which these tariffs will be imposed is realized. Equally important, foreign sellers may "feel out the market" after such tariffs are imposed to determine the ideal amount they can pass on to consumers with it impacting profit the least.
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Author: mozartklar
Date: 2025-10-26 21:07
I was searching for a decent selection of A clarinets to try from a few Buffet dealers and was told that Buffet was holding back on sending newer shipments to the USA because of the tariffs. I would guess that they've been waiting for a while to see how the tariff situation would evolve.
For better or for worse, I don't see how Buffet will be a very affordable brand in the future. Between the subpar quality and the price, I just don't see how they will be able to keep their grip on the market.
Post Edited (2025-10-26 21:08)
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2025-10-26 22:48
SecondTry,
Thanks for your response. Much appreciated.
You stated:
<”...when in fact that cost is split between buyer and seller.”
Per the following article, that’s how it used to be.
“Historically, economists have found that foreign firms absorbed some of the burden of tariffs by lowering their prices, resulting in a combination of foreign businesses and domestic firms and consumers sharing the burden of tariffs. In contrast to past studies, however, recent studies have found the Trump tariffs were passed almost entirely through to US firms or final consumers.”
https://taxfoundation.org/blog/who-pays-tariffs/
The above article convinces me that NYC Woodwinds is paying the full 15% tariff.
Now, why is Buffet raising their prices by 7%? I have no idea
So, the actual new price for Buffet clarinets after Nov. 1, 2025 certainly appears to me to be 22% higher! Ouch!
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Author: m1964
Date: 2025-10-27 06:01
Dan,
I only expect what the email says: price increase of about 7%.
Who will absorb the tariffs? Mostly, the end consumer.
So, if a hypothetical clarinet was $6000, after Nov. 1 it will be around $6420.
*Plus the state sales tax on that increased amount (in some states, not all).
Edit: the tariffs are calculated based on the import price, not retail price.
A clarinet with the retail price of $6000 most likely has import price of around $4000.
So, the import duty on the instrument is around $600.
The consumer will be paying $420, so the remaining $180 will be absorbed by either Buffet Paris, Buffet US and/or the selling dealer.
Looks like he end consumers will be paying the most of tariffs.
One needs to remember that many companies, not only Buffet, set the minimum selling price (Nikon, Canon, etc.) so the selling dealer does not have much flexibility.
Post Edited (2025-10-27 21:55)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2025-10-28 09:04
Isn't the 15% an adjusted tax and not an additional tax? Importers previously paid an import tax of... maybe someone knows how much?
Also the % is paid on their import cost and not the customer price.
A random somewhat over simplified example: If an importer buys a clarinet for $1000 and sells it for $2000, then they pay an extra $150. They can charge the customer $2150 and have them pay all the extra tax. That is just 7.5% to the customer.
To the consumers the percentages are partly real and partly a game of semantics... for the companies importing and selling it's likely all a matter of what's best for them.
In reality there are a lot of important unknown details.
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Author: Lou99
Date: 2025-10-28 10:19
clarnibass...
Your point makes sense. I bought a brand new alto sax from a music store chain back in early June of this year. Retail price to me was $4099. Two weeks later, the retail price was increased to $4199. $100 being only 2.4% increase to the consumer.
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2025-10-28 11:05
Thanks everyone for your inputs.
After rereading my last post, I failed to take into account the import price. So, it is the importer who is paying the extra 7% to the seller (Buffet) as part of the new price. Then, when the clarinet arrives, the importer (NYC Woodwinds) then pays the 15% tariff to the Treasury Department. From the statement in the article: "recent studies have found the Trump tariffs were passed almost entirely through to US firms or final consumers". It was the final consumer verbiage that mislead me. So, the importer, here being NYC Woodwinds, is the "US firm" and is paying for the Buffet increase and the 15% tariff. Then, of course, NYC Woodwinds can set the price of their new clarinet anywhere they want.
I think I have a clearer understanding now.
Thanks again.
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Author: Ed
Date: 2025-10-29 01:23
Brian Corbin has also announced that there is a price increase coming on Buffets
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The Clarinet Pages
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Economic theory will find Buffet eating the entire cost of the tariffs. 