Chinese tariffs, does this mean Reate, WE, Kizer prices are all going to skyrocket?

goldie said:
If these prices go up,China knives wont be worth buying anymore.....
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I'm not sure this is true. It really depends on the specific knife in question and its price b4 the tariffs are imposed

Remember many of these knives will be US branded knives made and imported from China which includes a lot of Kershaws, CRKTs, Gerbers and others priced largely in the $20-60 range. Adding 25% to those knives probably won't affect the sales of those knives much.

On the other hand, "premium" made Chinese knives, like Real Steel & WE priced, in the $100-300 range would probably be very seriously affected if the distributors/dealers try to pass on all of the 25% tariff to consumers. This would probably have a chilling effect on such knives particularly at the higher end of the price range.
 
Sosa said:
Pretty sure they don’t use US materials and Chinese cutlery isn’t on da list of products coming here
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I guess this is a good point, if an American company uses American or Italian steel and then ships it all to China to be "assembled" does this now become a tariff bearing product?

I guess GM and some other manufacturers were doing this for a while in Mexico, not sure what happened to all that but I recall GM moving back to US when Trump won.

I guess the Chinese steels like Kershaw will get a slight increase but what about the other knives like Reate and WE using premium steels and titanium not made in China.
 
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Based on my sampling of Kizer, Real Steel, Bestech, Civivvi, and Artison Cutlery (less than $100) I don't think they are worth 25% more in cost. IMO, the same could be said about Chinese produced CRKTs, and Kershaws. Something tells me that these knives are going to be hard to find for the next few months.
 
sharp_edge said:
If prices go up 25%, most likely these Chinese brands will lose the USA market. Their current prices already made most of them not a good value if they are to be re-sold in the secondary market.
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That is my personal take on the issue as well. "Frankly I don't give a damn." Honestly, I'm more concerned about Rough Ryder slippies.
 
mwhich50 said:
Based on my sampling of Kizer, Real Steel, Bestech, Civivvi, and Artison Cutlery (less than $100) I don't think they are worth 25% more in cost. IMO, the same could be said about Chinese produced CRKTs, and Kershaws. Something tells me that these knives are going to be hard to find for the next few months.
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I would not agree on Civivi. Even a 25 percent increase only puts most of them at 50 to 60 bucks, and they're an absolute steal at 42.
 
Sharp & Fiery said:
Im not sure why Reate has such a great name. My kizer Ti Gemini was just as well built as my Reate Wave. Mind you, other offerings from Kizer have been pretty terrible. And i have only owned the one Reate. I sold the Wave and only own the T1 and Gemini. Both excellently excecuted, just as my Reate Wave was. Maybe Reate is just more consistent in their builds.
Not trying to start anything. Just stating my opinion.
And ya, you should see the prices of Reates and WE’s in Canada now! Ya right. Not gonna be putting my money there. Lol.
Expl...a WE Pleroma for over $500Can!
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Every single Reate I've owned has been perfect, or almost perfect, as far as build quality goes. They also charge a higher premium because of their finishing on certain models, such as machine satin or hand satin, usually with contrasting grind lines or blade finishes, inlays, complex milling patterns, and so forth. Kizer's "premium" models are generally the same finishing you'd get on lower end models, i.e. stonewashed everything, with higher end steel and titanium handles, not to mention 3/4ths of the Kizer's I've owned (which has easily been a dozen or more) have had a fairly significant issue of some form or another. That's my experience at least, but Kizer definitely isn't in the same ballpark as Reate, or WE. You pay for the finer details with Reate for sure.
 
DrRollinstein said:
People saying WE knives are far below Reate are just fooling themselves to be honest.


But as for the topic, i really hope this doesnt affect them. The nicer We knives are already near my price ceiling, so i may have to lay off if they get too high.
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I agree, otherwise we wouldn't see so many designers having WE make stuff for them, like Boos, Ferrum Forge, etc.

Personally, I think Reate is overpriced, but maybe I'm biased as I've yet to find a model that appeals to me.

Meanwhile, my WE Deacon has perfect f&f, on par or better than anything I've owned.

I have mixed feelings on the tariff.
 
T.L.E. Sharp said:
Forget what it does to Reate prices, I'm curious to see how QTRMSTR spins their inevitable price jump. :p
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Looks like they are very quite right now. I do remember someone contacting the fbi about them.
 
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Most likely yes, prices will raise...but probably not as much as one would think.

Its not only we, reate, kizer , either, its other brands to that import from China. Crkt, Kershaw, etc
 
extrastout said:
Guess we will have to now support the American worker and give those kids a break :D.....MAGA!!
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We are a technology, service culture now. Most of the manufacturing (pollution) is being conducted in third world countries. Good trade relations with China has helped to keep the peace for decades. We are going to pay more for everything. Sounds "Great"!
 
mwhich50 said:
We are a technology, service culture now. Most of the manufacturing (pollution) is being conducted in third world countries. Good trade relations with China has helped to keep the peace for decades. We are going to pay more for everything. Sounds "Great"!
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We still manufacture many things in the US, cars, steel, Lumber, hell even Toyota and Lexus have plants here in the US employing American workers. In fact we export 60 Billion in goods to China alone. I believe textiles is where China and southeast Asia excel.

Keeping China at bay is smart in my opinion. China is even pushing the silk trade out of thailand, Cambodia and Laos, when I was in Thailand the markets were selling knockoff imported Chinese silk as thai silk. We had to go to the silk farms in Cambodia to get the real thing. That's a whole another conversation though.

The purpose of this Tariff to keep jobs in America and I agree with that, I also love my Reate blades and was just curious about how it would affect the market. I think that question has been answered and prcies on Chinese knives will be increasing it's just a matter of how much.

I also think this is an opportunity for companies to bring the Reate style of CNC and cold blade grinding to the American market at a more reasonable price, someone could really make a name for themselves and break in to an emerging market. I wish I had the know how and the money to start something like that.
 
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mwhich50 said:
We are a technology, service culture now. Most of the manufacturing (pollution) is being conducted in third world countries. Good trade relations with China has helped to keep the peace for decades. We are going to pay more for everything. Sounds "Great"!
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Manufacturing is being done by me as well...The company I am currently machinist with now might not have to fold to outsourcing to China. No more hopping jobs to escape lingering layoffs every 2 years...which means I can pay for things.... GREAT!
 
extrastout said:
Manufacturing is being done by me as well...The company I am currently machinist with now might not have to fold to outsourcing to China. No more hopping jobs to escape lingering layoffs every 2 years...which means I can pay for things.... GREAT!
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I work in one of the very few machine shops that does work for China because they can't figure out how to make what we make as well or efficiently as we can. ( We've been making this product for years before a Chinese company bought the company).
We have also made dies from D2 for a major automotive manufacturer that last 3 times as long as the dies they bought from China. So, yeah....screw China.
 
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