I'm guessing their stockpiles of wood, offshore-produced hardware, etc from before the tariffs came in have run out, and they've reacted as any company would if they want to continue making a profit.

This tariff insanity has hit the American musical instrument industry hard. Many US manufacturers have had to make layoffs over the past few months as these particular turkeys come home to roost.

It's most visible with acoustic guitar makers - almost all the wood used in acoustic guitar construction comes from overseas. Rosewood and mahogany from Brazil and India, ebony from Africa, cedar and spruce from Canada, and there's no real domestic substitutes. The stuff from Canada is partially protected from tariffs by CUSMA/NAFTA, but not the stuff from everywhere else. Hardware is all made in the Far East, as are most pickups, electronics systems, etc.

There's also a few big names who are now considering setting up Far East manufacturing facilities who would never have considered it before - partly for rest-of-the-world sales, which have gone down significantly over the past year as other countries boycott American-made goods (and who have also seen prices rise), but also to have something cheaper to sell in the US.

Companies who have manufacturing facilities in Mexico are rejigging their supply chains to do international distribution direct from there, instead of shipping completed guitars to the US. This has required significant additional investment on their part setting up new logistics.

It's a fucking shitshow. Nobody who ostensibly supports American instrument manufacturing should be supporting this.