We use this space to report on financial news from public companies in the outdoor power equipment industry, and from those private companies that choose to share financial news. You can read all those reports regularly on ope-plus.com. October will be a busy month for financial reports from companies including Tractor Supply, Caterpillar, SiteOne Landscape Supply and others.
In the meantime, we have been reading a range of financial data such as same-store sales reports, consumer sentiment data, GDP numbers, and more. And we try to report on tariffs and their impact on the power equipment industry. At this point, nine months through the calendar year, one data point is having a more significant impact on our industry and the U.S. (and global?) economy than any other, and that is tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
Let’s look at their impact as we can see it so far. Since Trump’s Liberation Day tariff impositions in April 2025, tariff rates have shifted on several countries around the world. Currently, it looks something like this:
Canada, 35%
China, 30%
European Union, 15%
India, 50%
Japan, 15%
Mexico, 25%
South Korea, 15%
Switzerland, 39%
Vietnam, 20%
And that is just the tariffs on some specific nations and goods shipped from there. U.S. companies that import steel and aluminum, for use in manufacturing a range of products from mower decks to beer cans, are facing additional tariffs. On steel products, that means tariffs from 25% up to 50% depending on the origin of the product.
How are manufacturers of outdoor power equipment dealing with these tariffs? They’re raising prices. When we attended the Stihl AG international media day in September, Stihl CEO Michael Traub said, “One thing for sure … this is not absorbed by the company, or by the manufacturer. Over time, this is absorbed by the consumer, by nobody else, no matter what media or other people are trying to tell you.” When bringing products into the U.S., Stihl is facing tariffs of 15% or more from European locations, 39% out of Switzerland, and 50% out of Brazil.
On Sept. 17, the Wall Street Journal reported on a meeting organized by the Yale School of Management, where “dozens of America’s business leaders sounded off on their concerns about tariffs, immigration, foreign policy matters and what many described as an increasingly chaotic, hard-to-navigate business environment.”
The paper reported that “many who shared their concerns Wednesday in the confines of a private conference room didn’t want to speak publicly for fear that their companies could be targeted by the administration or that they could attract criticism from Trump.”
What they did conclude during the meeting is that 71% of attendees surveyed said that tariffs have been harmful to their businesses, not helpful. About three quarters of the people there said courts were correct in saying the tariffs are illegal as executed. “Executives also said U.S. consumers and domestic importing companies were the ones bearing the brunt of the costs on tariffs, not international exporting companies or countries,” said the WSJ.
A majority of the company leaders also said that they do not plan to increase manufacturing capacity in America because of the tariffs, due to increased uncertainty about current and future tariff policies.
According to the Scotus Blog, a website covering Supreme Court activity, on Aug. 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears appeals from the Court of International Trade, ruled that Trump did not have the power to impose the tariffs. By a vote of 7-4, it said that imposing “tariffs of unlimited duration on imports of nearly all goods from nearly every country with which the United States conducts trade” is “both ‘unheralded’ and ‘transformative.’”
The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case on an expedited basis, arguing that the President has such powers in a national crisis.
A tariff is a tax one country imposes on the goods and services imported from another country. They are paid by importers, and often passed to consumers.
Other OPE makers and retailers have echoed Traub’s statements in their financial reporting.
Ace acknowledged that recently imposed US tariffs will increase its cost of goods. While it plans to pass these increases on to customers, the company is monitoring potential margin pressure and is currently unable to quantify the long-term financial impact.
While “accelerating strategic adjustments to its supply chain,” the company is taking a “judicious approach to pricing actions”
Initial price contribution began in 2Q25
Additional modest increase expected in early 4Q25
Exploring all options as we seek to minimize the impact of tariffs on end users while balancing the need to protect our business
Mitigating Action
Manufacturing and portfolio optimization
Strategic sourcing adjustments
Price increases
In its recent financial reporting on the first half of 2025, Echo’s parent company said that even though it manufactures “most of its U.S. sales products at local subsidiaries, the supply chain spans multiple countries including Japan, resulting in some impact.” Yamabiko said it is responding to US tariff policies, by maximizing U.S. production, optimizing its supply chain, and enacting pricing measures.