Straight talk.

Amid the economic uncertainty and marketplace chaos caused by tariffs and related trade war in 2025, honest and transparent conversation about what it all means for the promotional products industry could go a long way to orienting the merch market and cooling heads as the pressure heats up.

That’s just what ASI President & CEO Tim Andrews and a panel of industry leaders sought to provide in an April 8 ASI webinar that focused on the impact of tariffs on promo.

The three supplier executives and one distributor C-Suiter offered insights into pricing, sourcing practices, manufacturing outlook, how to work together best as an industry and adaptation strategies during the hour-long session attended by nearly 1,000 industry professionals.

The ASI tariff webinar featured ASI President & CEO Tim Andrews; Heather Smartt, head of Counselor Top 40 global hard goods supplier Goldstar (asi/73295); Chris McKee, chief revenue officer for Counselor Top 40 global distributor Geiger (asi/202900); Jose Gomez, president & CEO of Counselor Top 40 supplier Edwards Garment (asi/51752); and Jeff Schrimmer, owner of the supplier Brighter Promotions (asi/42016).

“My advice to everyone is to remember we’ve weathered tough times before – 9/11, the 2008 financial crash, COVID, the first round of tariffs,” said Andrews. “We’ll get through this too with the same grit, agility and determination that defines our industry.”

The “this” Andrews was referring to is the sweeping new tariffs President Donald Trump has ordered into place since taking office as the United States’ 47^th president in January. Those levies include a baseline 10% tariff on all imports, plus vastly heightened levies on China, tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports not covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and others, including steel and aluminum levies.

Listen to the full webinar.

The legality of the tariffs have been questioned but as of now they remain on the books. That matters significantly to promo, which imports the vast majority of products sold in the United States, especially from China. As such, tariffs are driving up pricing in promo and otherwise affecting the market. 

According to the webinar discussion, here’s some of what’s in play and how industry companies can navigate.

Suppliers Are Trying To Mitigate Price Increases

The supplier executives on the webinar were Heather Smartt, head of Counselor Top 40 global hard goods supplier Goldstar (asi/73295); Jose Gomez, president & CEO of Counselor Top 40 supplier Edwards Garment (asi/51752); and Jeff Schrimmer, owner of the supplier Brighter Promotions (asi/42016).

Each emphasized that their companies are taking steps to minimize the price increases they have to pass along to distributors, but noted that such increases, to varying degrees, will be inevitable given the scope of the tariffs and the fact they affect countries across the globe. Without some level of increase, suppliers won’t be able to remain viable.

A deep-dive on #tariffs, the #economy and what it all means for the #promoproducts industry, with insights from industry leaders and economic experts.

The Fallout From Trump’s ‘Worse Than Expected’ Tariffs https://t.co/kbsUkHZHpO

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) April 3, 2025

Tactics to limit necessary price hikes include negotiating hard with overseas manufacturers to get them to shoulder some of the cost increase burden. “We’re pushing for the lowest possible price increase,” said Gomez. Smartt said Goldstar took a similar approach. “We did a good job of negotiating,” she said. “We pushed back on key partnerships.”

Schrimmer noted that, even prior to the latest tariffs, Brighter Promotions was focused on moving more production out of China to other countries, including India, certain Latin American nations and even Greece. This tactic of shifting some production from higher-tariffed countries to lower-tariffed ones is a pursuit some suppliers are planning or executing, but as Smartt noted, “the reality is these things take time.” Smartt added Goldstar is taking a longer-term approach, sticking with nations in which it has already been moving some production, including Vietnam.

Moving supply chains can come with other complications, too. “The problem,” said Schrimmer, “that we, as a supplier, have is that a lot of our items are either proprietary or molded products where we have to either transport molds from China to the new host countries or start from scratch, which is what we’ve been doing and remolding in these countries.”

Advice To Distributors

Panelists offered proactive advice on how distributors can steer through the tariff turmoil.

Chris McKee, chief revenue officer for Counselor Top 40 distributor Geiger (asi/202900), said it’s critical to stay in close communication with suppliers, particularly vendors with whom a distributor sources from frequently. This will help distributors understand how tariffs and a trade war may be affecting pricing, inventory and more. “We’re talking to our suppliers daily, regularly, getting updates from them,” said McKee. “We’re sharing that with our sales partners in a daily update, so they know what impacts there are.”

Distributors can then use the information they get from suppliers to undertake another critical step: open communication with clients about tariffs. This is especially pivotal, as McKee noted clients are feeling cautious and evaluating expenses as they too grapple with tariff impacts. Being a calm voice of clarity and a consultative partner is a savvy approach during such times, even if it doesn’t lead to immediate sales. “Educate yourself and educate your customers,” said Gomez.

Added McKee: “We need to stick closely with our clients, communicating with them about what’s going on in our industry so they know, but also having empathy for what they’re going through with their businesses. If you’re a solution-driven salesperson, then think around the solutions to help your clients find clients. They’re going to need you to help them find new clients, now more than ever.”

Another advice-focused theme to the discussion was that end-buyers, facing tighter budgets, may now be looking for less expensive items than they would have been in recent times past. As such, it’s important to give end-buyers options. “Offering good/better/best solutions and at different price tiers is imperative,” Smartt stated.

Suppliers also encouraged distributors to be even more proactive than usual.

“Get your orders in sooner,” said Schrimmer. “Talk with your supplier partners, get that program going, let them know what you’re going to be looking to order in the next couple months. The more information distributors provide to suppliers and the more we’re able to allocate to them, the better we’re able to lock in their pricing and make sure that they have what they need at their expected price.”

Made-in-the-USA & Other Questions

One stated aim of the Trump administration’s tariffs is to encourage more manufacturing in America. While that may or may not come to pass for some industries, it’s unlikely to happen at scale for promo, as there doesn’t exist the infrastructure, workforce, materials or supply lines to service all of promo’s needs – and probably won’t in a cost-effective way anytime soon.

“We have a range of drinkware and pens that are made in the USA, and we think they’re going to be strong sellers during this time,” said Smartt. However, it’s unlikely Goldstar or other suppliers can shift all their extensive production to the United States. “Realistically, you can’t set up a factory overnight and start producing complex products like stainless-steel bottles or premium backpacks at a promo price,” Smartt said.

Are Trump's #tariffs legal? Some legal experts say no & at least one lawsuit has been filed. Meanwhile, the president is pledging to add another 50% rate in tariffs to China imports by Wednesday, a move that would further increase U.S. importers' costs.https://t.co/hpXEyUueQK

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) April 7, 2025

Even so, McKee noted that there’s been a definite uptick in interest among distributors in Geiger’s network regarding Made-in-the-USA suppliers and products, especially as end-client interest in such items may rise given tariff and trade war concerns. “Over the last week, this question on ‘Made in the USA’ has been asked by a bunch of customers,” he said. “They want to know what the options are.”

Other topics discussed included how suppliers are working tariffs into pricing. McKee said that, as a distributor, he would like to have one simple price for a product – rather than look at different line-item charges and have to add things up for the end-buyer. “Our clients simply want to know the cost of acquisition,” he said.

Both McKee and the supplier panelists emphasized that it’s important for suppliers and distributors not to abandon longer-term strategic plans because of tariffs. To wit: Smartt said Goldstar is sticking firm to its commitment to only develop sustainable products going forward.

“It’s our job as suppliers to educate our clients on the benefits of sustainable products and that could include things like rebates and government incentives that they might not know about,” she said. “I also think the younger generation is going to continue to push for sustainable products and it’s going to be our job to provide them with the best solutions at their price point.”

The panelists encouraged promo pros to keep pushing forward despite the current challenges. “While this isn’t exactly 2008 or COVID, we definitely can take what we’ve learned from those experiences and apply them,” said Smartt. “The organizations that stay the course and keep their foot on the gas will be the ones that succeed.”