Tariffs and Film and Paper prices

FotoD · Apr 3, 2025

Agulliver said:
Because outside of Kodak, there's only really Harman Phoenix and occasional output from Adox and Orwo/Original Wolfen.

brbo said:
Maybe I'll wait and see what happens with Harman Phoenix and Lucky C-41 project.

Yes, recent events could motivate Ilford to improve Phoenix further. And it would be a good time for Foma to get back into colour film. Fuji should also be able to sell more colour film in Europe.

bfilm said:
Avoiding Kodak to show your disagreement with the US government, I don't think is going to have any desirable effect.

No, not for the US government, that's for sure.

But let's not forget there are oportunities for Kodak too. Russia is apparently exempt from the sweeping tariffs. Maybe Кодак Голд 200 can make up for the lost European sales.

pentaxuser · Apr 3, 2025

Agulliver said:
Maybe Elon would fund it, then....

Elon? That's what we call Metol, isn't it?

pentaxuser

pentaxuser · Apr 3, 2025

Alex Benjamin said:
Not film related, but just for the fun of it: on the tariff list, we see a 10% tariff put on the British Indian Ocean Territory, where the only inhabited island is Diego Garcia, home to US service personnel. Which means that Trump put a 10% tariff on a US military base .

Just curiosity on my part but could it be that the base is sent all its goods direct from the U.S. so escapes duty and the few things that U.S personnel need from the island will be consumed on the island so U.S personnel will feel no effect on whatever tariff has been imposed on island goods being exported to the U.S?

If there are any big ticket items from the island being bought by U.S. personnel for the eventual move back to the U.S. would they not also be exempt?

pentaxuser

mshchem · Apr 3, 2025

pentaxuser said:
Elon? That's what we call Metol, isn't it?

pentaxuser

Yep, I have a 1 pound (454g) bottle of Kodak Elon down in my darkroom. These tariffs will INVIGORATE domestic Elon manufacturing

I'm totally confused by the whole thing. Just whacky. If I want Ilford or Foma products I will pay the going rate. No alternatives. (Adox too)

warden · Apr 3, 2025

I'll be tracking the US prices from B&H (where I frequently shop) on some consumables that I regularly purchase and some big ticket items that I don't. If anyone is interested I'll share as the results come in.

mshchem · Apr 3, 2025

It would be interesting to track the price of amateur instant films Instax and Polaroid. This could be a huge hit to these guys.

Alan Edward Klein · Apr 3, 2025

With prices on all our hobbies going up, think of all the extra time we'll have now to talk to our spouses.

BrianShaw · Apr 3, 2025

@warden If it's not inconvenient it might be good to add cell/mobile phones to your list of big ticket items being tracked. Many people use them for photography and I believe that those prices will be affected also.

warden · Apr 3, 2025

BrianShaw said:
@warden If it's not inconvenient it might be good to add cell/mobile phones to your list of big ticket items being tracked. Many people use them for photography and I believe that those prices will be affected also.

Thanks Brian, you’re certainly right and I’ll do that.

ChrisGalway · Apr 3, 2025

Like many people here, I'll pay the extra cash to buy film, chemicals, paper etc, even "new" cameras.

My big worry (relevant the this photo-thread) is that the companies around the world who supply us with these goodies will discontinue items that give only marginal profit as they are squeezed, and not invest in new items. Could this finally be the end of Fujifilm Provia and Velvia transparency films? Will Harman's Phoenix development be parked? There are lots and lots of vulnerable items. And perhaps this will be the last straw for some companies?

koraks · Apr 3, 2025

Moderator note: I just deleted a whole bunch of posts that weren't photo-related with some of them straying pretty deep into political commentary territory. If you wonder where you post went - it went *pooofffff* and it is no more.

DREW WILEY · Apr 3, 2025

Alan - I don't dare talk to my spouse about photo-related expenses!

pentaxuser · Apr 3, 2025

mshchem said:
These tariffs will INVIGORATE domestic Elon manufacturing

Domestic Elon was revived some months ago or so it looks to me as an outsider

pentaxuser

dscottjorgenson · Apr 3, 2025

FYI - with US domestic online retailers devoid of any 120-format Fujifilm Velvia 50 for the past several months, I have been buying 5-pack boxes, one at a time, from amazon.com (which fulfills these orders from amazon.co.jp) for the past several months. The price has hovered around $100 (US) per box, with a 1-box limit. Well, a few days ago, they went out-of-stock and delisted this product. Now, it is listed again, and back in stock... but the price has jumped to around $145 per box. Instant reaction to the tariffs, perhaps?

Kino · Apr 3, 2025

My new freezer arrived today to stash my pre "Liberation Day" purchase of sheet film.

For once, I did something right!

bfilm · Apr 3, 2025

There will be good and bad from these tariffs. There will likely still be adjustments. And it will probably play out over years. But I do wish they had been done with a more nuanced approach, focusing on environmental and wage parity tariffs to remove any advantage or incentive for companies to produce abroad with exploitative practices, while leaving other trade less affected. This might have been a more balanced strategy.

And this approach would have also left most of the products for analog photography made in the United States, Great Britain, Europe, and Japan less affected.

pentaxuser · Apr 3, 2025

koraks said:
Moderator note: I just deleted a whole bunch of posts that weren't photo-related with some of them straying pretty deep into political commentary territory. If you wonder where you post went - it went *pooofffff* and it is no more.

Yes over the question of tariffs it seems a lot of things may go "pooofffff" and be no more in the broadest sense of the phrase. The BBC news has covered little else for 24 hours. Strangely no mention so far has been made on the BBC of the effect on analogue photography

Good humour which has generally prevailed will hopefully not be one of those things that will be no more

pentaxuser

FotoD · Apr 3, 2025

bfilm said:
There will be good and bad from these tariffs.

Reminded me of this fine old piece of analog photography. Thanks. It made me feel a bit better about the coming price hikes on film, paper and chemistry.

GregY · Apr 3, 2025

bfilm said:
As far as small shipments to the US, this will depend on what happens with the $800 de minimis rule. As mentioned before, there are usually not any additional customs fees or duty or taxes for shipments that fall within this rule. It might be different for other countries. It is possible that shipping fees could increase, in general, though, if the shipping companies have more paperwork or steps to process shipments to show that no additional duty should be owed.

It appears the de minimus loophole is being closed.....

BrianShaw · Apr 3, 2025

GregY said:
It appears the de minimus loophole is being closed.....

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Closes De Minimis Exemptions to Combat China’s Role in America’s Synthetic Opioid Crisis

CLOSING LOOPHOLES IN THE TARIFF SYSTEM: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order eliminating duty-free de minimis treatment for

www.whitehouse.gov

bfilm · Apr 3, 2025

GregY said:
It appears the de minimus loophole is being closed.....

All I can find so far is that it is being closed for imports from China and Hong Kong. As someone also linked above.

GregY · Apr 3, 2025

bfilm said:
All I can find so far is that it is being closed for imports from China and Hong Kong. As someone also linked above.

So it seems.... for the moment.

Sirius Glass · Apr 3, 2025

I am glad of have a stash of film, chemicals in powder formulation and paper. Of course if the enlarger bulb goes bad I will be in a world of hurt.

mshchem · Apr 3, 2025

Yes, I seem to have more film and chemistry every time I turn around. I blame it on the colorful packaging

Patrick Robert James · Apr 3, 2025

My guess is when the crap starts getting bad the tariffs will be abandoned by Congress. They after all have the power to do so.

I am considering buying a couple years worth of film just in case.

The big problem which has already been mentioned is the decrease in demand. That could prove fatal for some things. Prices tend to not go back down either.

Tariffs and Film and Paper prices

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