Canadians will also pay more for Leica cameras as a result of US tariffs
- Leica cameras will be more expensive for Canadians due to US tariffs starting May 1st, 2025, with a seven percent price increase.
- The price increases are a result of Leica’s products being imported into both Canada and the US through its US headquarters.
- Leica has confirmed that it is exploring ways to better support Canadian customers, including potentially establishing a separate subsidiary within its global sales network.
- Other photography industry companies, such as DJI and Blackmagic Design, have also been affected by Trump’s tariffs, with price increases for their products in the US.
- The impact of US tariffs on the photography industry is being felt globally, with companies adjusting their pricing strategies to account for the increased costs.
Price increases on electronics as a result of President Trump’s global tariffs are starting to be felt outside the US, as a Canadian camera shop recently discovered. As a result of how Leica imports its products into North America, a store in Calgary, Alberta, was recently notified by the camera maker that it would be increasing dealer pricing by seven percent starting on May 1st, 2025, in both the US and Canada, according to PetaPixel.
After receiving the notice about the price increases from Leica USA on April 16th, The Camera Store’s managing director Peter Jeune contacted their Leica rep and “asked why Canadians would be subjected to US tariffs when there are options to legally avoid charging tariffs when exporting to other countries,” Jeune told PetaPixel.
Leica’s response was that the company “wanted price parity between Canada and the US.” But according to Jeune, when they asked Leica similar questions about price increases in Canada in 2019 after the US had imposed tariffs on German products, the company told them “it was too much work” to differentiate pricing in the US and Canada.
However, the camera maker clarified to PetaPixel that the price increases are a result of how its products are imported into both countries. “I can confirm that the tariff price adjustment will impact the Canadian market similarly to the US, as Leica Camera North America operates out of the US, with all imports managed through its US headquarters before reaching Canada,” explains Leica’s trade marketing & product communications manager, Nathan Kellum-Pathe.
While the “current tariff timeline prevents structural changes for now,” according to Kellum-Pathe, they also confirmed that “Leica Camera North America is actively exploring ways to better support Canadian customers, including the possibility of establishing Canada as its own subsidiary within Leica’s global sales network.”
Trump’s far-reaching US tariffs are definitely being felt in the photography industry. After increasing the price of its popular Osmo Pocket 3 camera from $519 to $619 in April, DJI recently increased pricing again to $799 in the US. Australia’s Blackmagic Design has also increased the prices of its digital cinema cameras, and halted plans to build a new factory in Dallas, Texas, because tariffs on imported semiconductor parts used to build its cameras there would negate anticipated savings.