With the new tariffs on Chinese imports to the US, the cost of Roadrunner Comfort’s electronics just jumped by a factor of 3. Fortunately we have enough inventory in stock to carry us through modest sales this summer. But if these tariffs were to remain at current levels, our price next year would have to jump to around $349 instead of the current $249 price. Of course, we will look at domestic electronics production. We would prefer to produce the electronics locally, or at least in the US Southwest, but prior inquiries indicated this would be prohibitively expensive. But, if things don’t change, either people will end up paying a lot more for the Roadrunner Comfort, or we’ll go out of business.
The silver lining in all this is that the tariffs could work to stop the flow of fentanyl into our country from China. If it costs us our business to make that happen, it may well be worth it.