Surfboard Makers Brace for Tariffs on Foam, Resin and Fins, One Surf Writer Warns
Sam George’s April 2025 column in The Inertia says thin margins could push prices up by as much as 25 percent in some cases
Surfboard Makers Brace for Tariffs on Foam, Resin and Fins, One Surf Writer Warns
Sam George’s April 2025 column in The Inertia says thin margins could push prices up by as much as 25 percent in some cases
The Column
On April 23, 2025, The Inertia published an opinion column by Sam George about what tariffs could mean for surfboards. It is opinion, with no outside sources quoted, so what follows is the writer’s argument and not a measured finding. The column describes tariffs on imports from global exporters as almost entirely arbitrary and does not name specific countries or rates.
George lists the inputs he says are affected: resin components, certain foam blanks, fins and fin boxes, leash plugs and plastic lamination squeegees. He says these are used by most major manufacturers and are imported from overseas. He adds that some boards made entirely overseas, including models from Slater Design and Rob Machado’s Groove line, are also expected to be hit.
The Price Warning
The column says surfboard price increases of up to 25 percent are possible in some cases, which it attributes to the industry’s thin profit margins. It does not give a source for the 25 percent figure, so it is best read as the writer’s estimate. Listed prices in the column, before any tariff adjustment, ran from $745 for a Lost Original Puddle Jumper to $965 for a Slater Design Great White Twin.
For context, the column notes that the Dow Jones fell 9.1 percent in the first two to three weeks of April 2025, its worst April since 1931. That was the backdrop to the piece: an anxious market in which every retailer was recalculating costs.
What Shapers Face
The column does not describe tariff effects on individual shapers, but it urges readers to support local shapers and craftspeople. It notes that brands such as Firewire, JS, Haydenshapes and DHD produce boards in Southeast Asian factories, so the exposure runs through the big brands as well as the garage workshop.
Anyone who has watched a board being made knows why the argument has force. A handshaped board is made of foam, fibreglass cloth and resin, and many of those materials have supply chains that run through a few producers. A small shop cannot buy in volume or hedge currency, so a rise in the price of a gallon of resin lands directly on the price of a board.
The offsetting point is that local shapers who buy domestic materials may be less exposed, and some customers are willing to pay more for a board made nearby. That is an argument for resilience, not a promise of lower costs.
The Free-Trade Argument
Surf culture is not usually thought of as political, but the industry is a global one: foam from one country, resin from another, boards assembled in a third and sold everywhere. Free-trade advocates argue that tariffs on inputs punish the very craftspeople they claim to protect, because a domestic shaper depends on imported components.
Supporters of tariffs reply that dependence on a few foreign suppliers is a weakness, and that duties can encourage domestic production. In the surfboard case, the question is whether anyone would build the missing domestic capacity for foam and resin, and how long it would take.
The column leans towards the first view. A fair reader will weigh it as one voice in a debate that economists dispute, and will look for data on actual prices over the following months.
Why Margins Matter
The 25 percent figure rests on a claim about margins, and margins are where a tariff does its work. A manufacturer who earns a few cents on each dollar of sales cannot absorb a large rise in input costs for long, so the cost moves to the retailer and then to the buyer. A business with comfortable margins can hold prices for a season. The column argues that surfboard builders sit closer to the first group, but it offers no figures, so readers should treat that as informed opinion.
Retailers also matter. Shops hold inventory bought at earlier prices, and many will sell through it before repricing. The first effect of a tariff may therefore be thinner choice rather than higher tags, followed by a rise when new stock arrives.
Buying Advice
The piece is also a buying guide: its title tells readers to buy today. That is a reasonable personal call, but a buyer should remember that tariff rules change, that retailers hold stock bought at earlier prices, and that waiting can also bring discounts. A board is a long-term purchase; a single month’s price matters less than the quality of the shape and the shaper.
For readers thinking about a first board, used boards remain the cheapest entry, and a local shop will usually be glad to explain what to look for.
What the Column Cannot Tell Us
A column from April 2025 cannot show what happened afterwards. The tariff schedule has been revised since, and prices at the counter reflect inventory, currency and demand as well. Readers who want current figures should check retailers and manufacturers directly.
What the column does show is how quickly policy travels from a customs office to a surf shop, and how a small industry reads macroeconomic news in terms of foam and fins.
Humour as a Mirror
Markets that worry are easy to laugh at, and the Cebu condominium story has drawn plenty of that: empty showrooms in Manila News, paperwork for British pensioners in the London Prat (at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and long showings in Bohiney. See also prat.uk and bohiney.com.
For the lighter side of the news, there is always NewsBiscuit.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/
