Sealevel Statement on Chinese Trade Tariffs

Sealevel is reluctantly forced to deal with the realities of the trade war with China by imposing a nominal 2% tariff recovery fee on all standard product orders, effective June 1, 2019. The trade war with China began with the tariffs imposed by President Trump in July 2018. Like most, we hoped the tariffs would be short-lived and have been able to limit the impact to customers by absorbing these costs for the past three quarters. However, with the trade war heating up and with tariffs increasing on many components to as much as 25%, we are left with the unpopular choice of recouping these fees.
 
We are proud to be an American-made products company, but we still must source components from all over the world, including China. The products impacted by tariffs include connectors, cables, select components and other specialty parts. Many components are only available from China, which limits our ability to avoid all tariffs. While we whole-heartedly agree with our current administration’s goal to get China to play by the same rules as the rest of the world, we hold out hope that the tariffs will end soon.
 
Rather than increase prices across the board, the 2% tariff recovery fee will help us keep our standard prices competitive for as long as tariffs remain in effect. We will cease collecting this fee when the tariffs end. Thank you for your understanding and for choosing Sealevel.
 
Sincerely,
Ben O’Hanlan
President