So, Harbor Freight tools and lots of auto parts are suddenly going to cost a lot more. Plans?

Not interested in opinions on government, lets keep politics out of the discussion (yeah, like that's gonna happen).

Anyway, like the title of the thread says, looks like soon a bunch of stuff - tools, parts, accessories, etc -  we're used to being "cheap" are going to cost a lot more - and the quality sure as hell won't improve. So, what are you going to do?

Bitch about it?

Refuse to pay that much for stuff that's been crap - and still is, just now it's expensive crap.

Search around for good quality, but used, parts, and then try to rebuild them?

Circle like a vulture, waiting to pounce on any garage, estate, or repair shop "going out of business" sale?

Me? Well, I've got more tools than I can count, lots of them just gathering dust since I hardly ever use them. The ones I do use a lot, I acquired mostly back in the late '70's and '80's when I really got into working on cars and trucks a lot, quite a few were hand-me-downs from my Dad (Craftsman) and brothers-in-law, some swap meet and garage sale finds. Parts? Well, hopefully my '22 Bronco won't need much for awhile, other than maintenance (it's at 65K miles and the brake pads look like they'll last for another 65K). My only real project these days is my '71 Bronco, and I've already got most of the major parts I'll need, the rest is just details (weatherstripping, etc), and I've had it for decades, so waiting a little longer between parts purchases is fine with me.

What's your plan?  

Stuff at Harbor Freight should cost a lot more but doesn't because the Chinese government subsidizes it so they can sell it cheap in the west.

Someone pays the cost for that (the Chinese people working in miserable conditions) and it's not us.

From the vendor side, I am not looking forward to this ride. We have a lot of US made stuff but of course some is from overseas. We just ordered enough Konis to last us around six months. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I don't blame you. I maybe ought to think about ordering some parts in advance from y'all. 

For those not aware, here is the latest word on this topic ..

April 9, 2025, 9:32 PM EDT

What to know today about tariffs

• President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for more than 75 trading partners that did not retaliate after his sweeping duties went into effect. China, which placed steep retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, will now come under an even larger hike in levies on its products, totaling 125%.

I have a friend who has invested heavily in manufacturing a line of pumps from a Chinese factory. As of today he is paying double what he was a few months ago. He already asked them to help with the tariffs and they pretty much laughed at him. The more or less direct quote was "you guys did this to yourselves so you can pay the cost." If there is non Chinese alternative then there can be some room to move on pricing but so long as the products you want such as a set of tools is for the most part only made in China then they have no need and certainly no interest in absorbing any of the cost of the tariffs. I think tool making on an affordable hobbyist scale left the US a long time ago and it's not coming back.

Earlier this week, as a precautionary move, I ordered myself a new Motorola call phone via Amazon.  A phone is an item that on any given day I could bust/break/damage and if I did I'd need to replace it immediately.  Given that there is no US made alternative, I felt it would be a no-loose proposition to have a replacement unit here on hand.  Also, if I was wrong or "things worked out differently" I could then just return the unit via Amazon free return.  

So does this mean that Chinese crap is going to get  cheaper for Canadians  and the rest of the world, since they have to sell the stuff somewhere?

Luckily a lot of the better quality tools are out of Taiwan, not China so they shouldn't be hit as hard.

NOHOME said:

So does this mean that Chinese crap is going to get  cheaper for Canadians....

So when I'm in Detroit for work I can make bootleg runs to Canada in the evening to head over to a Harbor Freight type store?

Datsun240ZGuy said:

NOHOME said:

So does this mean that Chinese crap is going to get  cheaper for Canadians....

So when I'm in Detroit for work I can make bootleg runs to Canada in the evening to head over to a Harbor Freight type store?

Princess Auto!

In fact is the model for Harbor Freight and long predates it. Their store brand is "Powerfist". It's actually not bad. 

I simply don't buy enough for it to truly make a difference to mey budget.

If you think you're worried about it, just think how pretty much every gov't in the world is worried about the US public not buying the products their companies make.

This will blow over and hopefully open up markets for our businesses because of lower tariffs.

I just realized that the second edition of one of my books is probably on the water right now from the Chinese print shop. That's not good. 

At least my royalty is a percentage of the selling price :)

A couple years ago I built a CNC router and needed a water-cooled spindle. No US manufacturer made one, so what was I supposed to do? If tariffs make offshore units unaffordable and there are there are no domestic alternatives, how does me being unable to buy one financially benefit the US?

If the idea of tariffs is to make it financially attractive for manufacturers to make stuff here, I can see that succeeding. The huge problem is that we're competing against countries that pay workers 1/10 as much and with little or no health or safety systems. Make the same product here and it'll cost... what, 3X what Harbor Freight charges now? I just bought a rolling tool box from them for $350 - I would not buy ANY tool box from anyone for $1,000 While the tariff punishes various countries, it also doesn't benefit the US (other than keeping my money in-country - but unspent).

I've yet to see any media commentary about what this would do to Walmart... if this all goes ahead, they're facing a financial abyss.

Keith Tanner said:

I just realized that the second edition of one of my books is probably on the water right now from the Chinese print shop. That's not good. 

At least my royalty is a percentage of the selling price :)

To avoid the tariff goods had to be loaded on to a ship or airplane prior to 12:01 AM this last Saturday, and must be offloaded before May 27th, so you should be good anyway. 

Keith Tanner said:

I just realized that the second edition of one of my books is probably on the water right now from the Chinese print shop. That's not good. 

At least my royalty is a percentage of the selling price :)

My books get printed in the US, the UK, Australia, France, India, and Canada. Pretty sure this whole affair won't be a good thing for my bottom line.

I work for ZF. Our parts come from Germany. I didn't work today because we don't have parts to build transmissions.

bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) said:

Datsun240ZGuy said:

NOHOME said:

So does this mean that Chinese crap is going to get  cheaper for Canadians....

So when I'm in Detroit for work I can make bootleg runs to Canada in the evening to head over to a Harbor Freight type store?

Princess Auto!

In fact is the model for Harbor Freight and long predates it. Their store brand is "Powerfist". It's actually not bad. 

You could in theory. However for trips of less than 24 hours you do have to pay duties and tariff charges if applicable. After 24 hours you are good for $800 Usd of goods returning with you. I am gonna guess that current border conditions means that they will stick to the letter of the law rather than let the small purchases for day-crossing slide as they have done in the past.

In reply to earlybroncoguy1 :

Chances are you will just suck it up same as Canadian car hobby people. Canadians have always had a dollar that is 30% lower than USd, cross-border shipping fees and 13% sales tax; so if I see a part advertised for $100 I know it is more like $200 Cnd by the time I get it.... and yet the hobby goes on. Welcome to our world.

The Bendpak 2-post lift I just bought last month is now exactly $2,000 more expensive on their website. I'm not good at stocks but I'm glad I timed this one right.

https://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/two-post-lifts/10ap-standard/

Garage sales and flea markets for tools it is for me. 

aw614 said:

Garage sales and flea markets for tools it is for me. 

Pawn shops are another option albeit more predatory to their sellers. 

Facebook Marketplace is also a good option. 

Xceler8x said:

aw614 said:

Garage sales and flea markets for tools it is for me. 

Pawn shops are another option albeit more predatory to their sellers. 

Facebook Marketplace is also a good option. 

Not for long.

Remember what happened to prices on used stuff when "The Madness" happened in 2020?

If a new welder was $2k and now it's $4k. Guess what my used welder is going to cost you?

This will affect everything. Don't worry.

I suppose I'm pretty lucky that my business isn't dependent on imported goods and my future endeavors are mostly set up and modeled on a "buy local" sort of philosophy. 

Long term I don't really see a way out of this situation on a larger scale. Imported goods raised quality of living for most people. Exploitation of that led to fewer employment opportunities here meaning imported goods were only maintaining or reducing impact of quality of living.

Now, everyone has adjusted to it, and in order to fix the situation and bring back that lost employment basically requires telling everyone "We're going to bring back those jobs, but life is probably going to suck for a generation before things normalize again."

I do think there are answers, but they're all hard sales that will effect the bulk of the country's demographics. I'm not fundamentally opposed to putting tariffs on those products that are harming our domestic workforce but there are 2 things I'd like to see happening. 

1) the cost of the tariffs have to outweigh the savings of importation. Kind of like these "fines" that corporations see as "coat of business" because it's cheaper to pay the fine than fix the problem. (I think that should be addressed as well, but I digress.)

2) the money from those tariffs need to be reinvested into rebuilding employment opportunities in the US with companies with over 1000 employees being exempt from those investments.

I don't see any way of those things happening at the same time long enough for any long term systemic shifts without it being cut away at for the sake of politics and winning elections.