The 50 Percent Tariff Is Now A Line Item In Every Gear Budget

Hockey sticks and skates are among more than 550 goods named in the 50 percent tariffs the Trump administration levied against Canada, duties that cover roughly $28 billion in Canadian goods. Canada answered on Sept. 8 with retaliatory tariffs of its own.

For teams, the math shows up in procurement, not at the pro shop counter. The Bismarck Bobcats of the NAHL outfit their room in Bauer, and equipment manager Josh Thomas says prices keep climbing from a mix of rising product quality and tariffs.

"Yeah, you know there's been an impact, but we still continue to see through it," Thomas said. "It just means, you know, you have to be smarter with budgeting, you have to think ahead and think harder about what you need and getting that squared away before anything else."

Buy early, buy deliberately. That is the practical advice hiding in there, and it applies to a parent as much as a junior club.

The baseline was already ugly before September. Kelly Rand, whose twin sons play in St. Paul, told the AP the goalie helmet that cost $400 in 2022 now runs $1,000, and a chest protector bought last year for $465 now lists at $900. Skates tell the same story over a longer window: per the Hockey Skates Database, the cheapest pair in 2016 was $70, and in 2026 the entry point from two of the main manufacturers is $230.

One number worth keeping in mind: Canada accounts for only about 9 percent of imported hockey equipment, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. So the tariff is not a blanket 50 percent on your next stick. It is a targeted squeeze on specific SKUs, and retailers get to decide whether to eat it.

Most will not. Canada's retaliatory tariffs show how that plays out on the other side of the border: Mark Macaulay, head of procurement at Home Run Sports in Winnipeg, told CBC News the baseball bats his store brings in from the U.S. would cost 50 percent more than before Sept. 8. "We as a business aren't going to eat that cost," he said. "It will have to be passed on to the end user."