PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – President Trump’s new 50% tariff on Canadian goods — including hockey equipment — takes effect Aug. 19. But with the majority of hockey equipment these days made outside of Canada, retailers we spoke to say families shouldn’t expect to pay more this season.
For the last 33 years, Ed Freer has owned and operated a Play It Again Sports franchise in Plattsburgh. Over time, he’s seen firsthand the price to play jump.
“Your top-of-the-line skate when we first opened, you might spend $300; way over that now,” Freer said.
That’s why he was curious if or how President Trump’s incoming new 50% tariff on hockey equipment made in Canada would affect prices. It turns out, not much. Freer says because prices for the upcoming season are already locked, the gear paid for, and the majority these days made outside of Canada, the tariffs don’t apply.
But Freer says that hasn’t stopped people from asking about it. “One customer was in yesterday saying, ‘Oh, I have heard prices are going to go up extremely.’ I said, ‘That’s not going to happen, that’s not the way the hockey business works,” Freer said.
Chris Kirkey, a professor of Canadian studies at SUNY Plattsburgh, says Trump’s new tariffs are likely a trade negotiation tactic. Ultimately, he believes it’ll backfire on the communities that depend and cherish that relationship with Canada the most.
“If you are a Canadian and you are looking, well, where am I going to go for the weekend? Am I going to go to Plattsburgh and do some shopping and some… stay at a hotel, go out for a good meal at a restaurant, or am I just going to sit tight? The whole idea of… your mindset of coming to the United States is once again in question,” Kirkey said.
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