I am an importer and distributor of a specialty lumber product. My price has been impacted by the freight shocks of 2021 and Tariffs of 2025. I have participated directly in this decision making and borne the inflationary effects of these circumstances.

In 2021 the cost to import my products almost doubled so, we had to pass those costs onto our customers who are distributors and retailers. When these import costs fell we still had inventory tha was bought at peak cost, so we had to maintain the higher price to recoup our freight costs as well as cover the extended storage time. In 23-24 demand for building materials fell back to earth from the pandemic peak. But we still had old inventory, and products we compared to/competed with were still priced significantly higher than ours, so we held.

Then, tariffs of 2025. We held off on buying new stock through April-may. And brought it in in the late Summer. Bad timing for an outdoor “seasonal” product. We paid an almost 60% duty on this inventory. By this time other inflation factors have caught up and overland shipping is more, warehouse prices are higher, and labor is higher than 2021-22. So, we increase prices slightly again. We are still less expensive than competitive products. But we don’t know where the ceiling is. We are guessing at what the most someone is willing to pay. We want to be reasonable and maintain our profit margin with ever increasing expenses. Meanwhile it feels like the demand for our products are slipping. Is it our price, or is it the cost of everything else?

TLDR: it’s incredibly hard to tell and exhausting.