Well. Here we are. The first wave of tariff shock came rolling in. Leica prices in general jumped by anywhere from 10% to 20% and the tariff contagion spilled over onto my Leica-loving Canadian friends as well. Seems that the US is the North American distribution center for those German products and since all Leicas come in here first before some are sent on to Canada everything gets hit with the same increases.
I guess today is the day to bitch about how sad and depressing my life is on May 2nd. I had to pay bills today. I paid off the balances on my credit cards. But I do that every month. I set aside money for property tax --- the tax that never sleeps --- and a bit more for federal income taxes, paid my swim dues, my concierge doctor's monthly charge, the gas bill, the electric bill, water bill, the various phone bills and internet bill, club dues, made my usual donation to the household account and, finally, paid my gardener. Woe is me. So sad.
But the thing that really chaps my hide is the idea that, going forward, when I need a little pick me up from Leica -- say a new M11P or a nice lens to fend off the economic blues I'll not only have to save up extra couch cushion change to cover the new tariffs but I'll also be participating in the "world economy" in which, under our current administration, the US dollar has dropped in value by about 9%. If you add the 10% increase in the cost of German retail therapy from tariffs to the 9% drop in the value of the dollar against the Euro it means I'll be paying about 19% more than I would have for my emotional support camera gear if I'd bought it just a few months ago.
But it's always good to remember the current mantra: "Tariffs are not a tax on American Consumers!" My grasp of macro economics is far from sterling but these price increases sure feel like a new tax to me...
I read that three of Fuji's most popular cameras; the new GFX RF, the X100VI and the XM-5, all of which are manufactured in China will no longer be imported into the USA. Too expensive now to sell to a shrinking market of people with less disposable income. So, bit by bit our choices will become more limited than ever before. Not just too expensive but literally, physically unobtainable.
I guess I need to starting cutting costs where I can. Using the coffee grounds two or three times before composting. Move my grocery shopping from Whole Foods to Walmart. Switch from French wines to, gasp! Texas wines. Bust out the dial up modem. Pull the ole flip phone out of a dusty drawer. I've never had them but I'm sure I'll miss those opera box seats I've always had my eyes on...
On a serious note I think the financial pinches caused by the tariffs will be really hard on lots and lots of Americans who plainly never signed up for this. Economists are forecasting rolling shortages of foods, medicines and all kinds of staples. The last time I was at a Trader Joe's I noticed people now stocking up on toilet paper. The food banks are already starting to feel a recent surge of newly food insecure families. And with the Canadians responsible these days for a large share of our oil and gas supplies I can only imagine they'll be retaliating in kind and driving our gasoline prices to well over $4 a gallon. "What????" my European readers might say. "Did you mean $4 per liter???" Yes, we're spoiled but we've got lots of space between our homes and everything else and a lot of black top we've already payed for that someone has to use....
Unhappy to know that we live in a country where it's okay for school children to go hungry so billionaires can skirt paying taxes. And now the Leicas..... It's just too much.
