Our flowers are simply breathtaking.

Effective May 10th, 2019, the United States increased tariffs on a broad range of Chinese Imports from 10% to 25%. The increase had a broad sweeping impact across many industries, and affected key items in the floral industry including:

• Baskets
• Items made of paper, paper pulp and cardboard
• Wood products (think wood picks, Novelty picks made of wood, giftware, furniture)
• Feather products (birds and butterflies made with feathers will be impacted)
• Ribbons
• Candleholders (broadly defined as non-electric lamps, basically anything that takes a candle, irrespective of the material it is made from)
• Sinamay
• Cement Containers
• Some Cellophane Items (sleeves and bags)

Christmas product and artificial flowers are unaffected by the tariff increases.

These tariffs do not impact our entire product line as we supply products sourced from other countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, India, Taiwan, and Korea. Only products imported from China to the US are affected.

We are doing our best to minimize the impact of the tariffs by:
1. Utilizing existing inventory before raising prices
2. Acquiring in advance stock at pricing pre-25% tariff whenever possible
3. Directly importing from China when we can
4. Seeking other product sources outside of China

Outside of the U.S. tariffs, many industry vendors have also increased their pricing due to the climbing costs of raw materials, packaging, and freight. For example, Design Master, our paint supplier, enacted a general 7% increase on April 1st. The increase resulted in our need to increase our prices on paint products. On March 15th, Smithers-Oasis also increased pricing on certain products and upped their transportation surcharge. We will be increasing prices on the affected Smithers-Oasis products on July 1st.

It is impossible to know how long these tariffs will be in place given the unpredictable nature of the negotiations between the U.S. and China. While it is always important to keep a close eye on product input costs, it is even more critical in an environment of rising prices to ensure you are using the latest information to price your floral arrangements, products, and services. While we do try to hold the pricing listed in our Catalogues, forces outside of our control cause us to occasionally increase prices on select items. To find the most up-to-date and accurate pricing on our products, view them online at floristssupply.com, or ask your Customer Service Representative.

Laurie Nesbitt
Florists Supply President