America First looks to be coming, and with it huge tax hikes on cameras and lenses. The deals you see now on photo gear now might be the best for years.
(Image credit: Adam Juniper)
While it's impossible to be sure whether an incoming administration will actually live up to its promises, it seems likely that one of President-Elect Donald Trump's "America First" strategies is a big hike in tariffs. If you buy photography equipment – very little of which comes from America, and much of which is partly made in China – that means taxes on the gear you use are going up. A lot.
At the moment, rates of between 2.5% and 6% are levelled on imports – but over the presidential campaign, we've heard figures threatened of 10%, with 60% and 100% for China and Mexico respectively. According to CNN, there isn't any word on how this will be done yet, but "the cost of the tariffs is expected to be passed along to consumers."
So yes, the American government is, in effect, likely to massively increase taxes on cameras just because they mostly come from outside America. (Some may prefer me to call them duties – read what you like, it all goes to Uncle Sam!)
Oh, that doesn't mean lots of American camera companies will instantly spring up to fill the void with new cameras. People haven't been working for years on precision optics as they have in Japan, so things don't just change overnight.
Even if they did, would you want a new lens mount right now? Regardless, at first at least, it just means for consumers, camera prices will go up.
Historians will point out that this is the beginning of protectionism – which might appeal at first, sounding like it protects jobs, but was probably what led to the first two world wars. That's for time to tell.
What America does get, though, is a brief 'magic period' in which market uncertainty is actually down – as there is a definite election result. It didn't really matter who won, so long as someone did, shared would have risen. Now, basking in that glow and thanks to the wait until transition, new tariffs don't happen overnight. Just my advice, but if you like buying things from outside America (from brands like, for example, Sony, Canon, Nikon, DJI to name a few), I'd take advantage!
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Tariffs are one part of protectionism – bans are another, and DJI (who make this Action 5 Pro camera) face them too. (Image credit: Adam Juniper)
What about bans?
Protective tariffs aren't the only threat to choice for camera and drone customers in the USA right now either. As we've already seen in the world of phones, technology and politics can collide and the result can be the wholsale elimination of a successful brand from the market. Hikvision security cameras and Huawei phones are simply gone in the USA.
DJI, despite not actually serving military customers, has been targeted too as a military threat. US taxpayers are already shouldering extra costs because government-linked police and other services are already unable to buy equipment, even though auditors have suggested that it would be cheaper and prevent wildfires if government departments could buy Chinese (and, specifically, DJI).
Realistically as I type it now seems likely the new administration will have a clean sweep of both Houses of Congress, the White House and the lion's share of the Supreme court, so all that might remain to curtail such policies are the individual consciences of politicians.
Bans can also lead to trade wars. Skydio (the US drone company that now concentrates on commercial) has recently found that it's having to ration battery sales (as spotted by DroneDJ). Why? Probably because Skydio gets its batteries from China, and someone in China isn't taking kindly to Skydio lobbying against Chinese drones and Skydio CEO Adam Bray's public remarks to that effect. This kind of tit-for-tat battle can easily escalate, is difficult to predict for consumers, and is immensely frustrating. Best to get the gear you can when you can!
So what can I do?
America, to be fair, has a fine tradition when it comes to sensible politics from individuals blocking radical change, so any very strong changes might not happen overnight. Elections, too, don't guarantee policies any more.
Personally, though, if I wanted to save on a camera – or just be sure I had the best drone tech – I'd definitely choose to get it before the inauguration!
The way to do that is to keep a close eye on our live deals updates, which are active now and over the Black Friday period.
With over 20 years of expertise as a tech journalist, Adam brings a wealth of knowledge across a vast number of product categories, including timelapse cameras, home security cameras, NVR cameras, photography books, webcams, 3D printers and 3D scanners, borescopes, radar detectors… and, above all, drones.
Adam is our resident expert on all aspects of camera drones and drone photography, from buying guides on the best choices for aerial photographers of all ability levels to the latest rules and regulations on piloting drones.
