With New Tariffs Scheduled to Take Effect in August, Optical Industry Braces for Increases

NEWARK, N.J.—As the optical industry continues to weather the storm of financial unpredictability from shifting tariff rates, new duties are scheduled to take effect in the coming weeks. China, a major supplier of frames, spectacle lenses and sunglasses for the eyecare industry, has recently negotiated a trade framework that will impose a reported 55 percent tariff on goods imported into the U.S. starting August 12. Tariff amounts under consideration on Chinese imports have ricocheted in recent months from a high of 145 percent to a low of 30 percent, as reported by VMAIL. And, as major news outlets have reported, the White House has also sent out notifications of new tariffs that will take effect in several countries including Japan (25 percent), Laos (40 percent) and Cambodia (36 percent), on August 1, an extension of the Trump Administration’s original 90-day pause from April.