Alright Everyone, Gird Your Loins!

[onocoffee]

Apologies to Peter and CRG if this thread ends up running away and astray.

But with recent announcements here in the United States, I think the time to buy any Festool you don’t own and have been thinking about is NOW.

Evidently, the United States will be imposing a 10% tariff on all goods from Germany (and other nations that are standing in the way) on February 1, 2025.

Then, if the United States does not get its way and is not appeased, that tariff will INCREASE to 25% on June 1, 2026.

So, time to plan accordingly.

 

[waho6o9]

Planning is important. Thank you looking out for those on the fence about a Festool purchase.

 

[ChuckS]

Any time is a good time to buy tools as long as they are what you need (or want).

As a hobbyist, I never worry about inflation (or tariffs) or price drops or price increases. A great tool is a great tool, and for me, they include the DF500, SawStop PCS and Kapex 120. The sooner you have the tools you need, the sooner you get your projects going and done.

 

[Lincoln]

Apologies to Peter and CRG if this thread ends up running away and astray.

But with recent announcements here in the United States, I think the time to buy any Festool you don’t own and have been thinking about is NOW.

Evidently, the United States will be imposing a 10% tariff on all goods from Germany (and other nations that are standing in the way) on February 1, 2025.

Then, if the United States does not get its way and is not appeased, that tariff will INCREASE to 25% on June 1, 2026.

So, time to plan accordingly.

'Standing in the way'. I'd call it 'standing up'.

 

[bwehman]

Aye, appreciate the heads up. Been waffling about a couple things.

 

[Imemiter]

I'm kind of stuck between wanting tools that won't get here before the tariff/tantrum, and wanting to wear out gear that I've already got.

 

[Matthew Thieme]

I’m wondering what impact this has on all future release dates in North America. Must be tough to plan ahead importing new products into a market that has so much uncertainty.

 

[peter halle]

The shifting sands have to be a nightmare for every company that exports to the US. There will be a limit to how much import duty cost companies are willing to absorb.

Peter

 

[Duckler]

Apologies to Peter and CRG if this thread ends up running away and astray.

But with recent announcements here in the United States, I think the time to buy any Festool you don’t own and have been thinking about is NOW.

Evidently, the United States will be imposing a 10% tariff on all goods from Germany (and other nations that are standing in the way) on February 1, 2025.

Then, if the United States does not get its way and is not appeased, that tariff will INCREASE to 25% on June 1, 2026.

So, time to plan accordingly.

I like the thread suggestion. BUT there is a slight smell of politics in there. At least that is how I see the “appeased” word.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

 

[RustE]

I’m wondering what impact this has on all future release dates in North America. Must be tough to plan ahead importing new products into a market that has so much uncertainty.

Tariffs mostly affect the final price of the product. The engineering, manufacturing, and transportation portions of the product introduction cycle affect the release date. Festool showed us in August 2025 that they were no opposed to putting an import fee on products that were already sitting in dealer inventory.

 

[onocoffee]

Tariffs mostly affect the final price of the product. The engineering, manufacturing, and transportation portions of the product introduction cycle affect the release date. Festool showed us in August 2025 that they were no opposed to putting an import fee on products that were already sitting in dealer inventory.

I think, to be fair, we should note that the first tariffs of 2025 were implemented by April. What I had heard is that FT,de had already floated containers of products to NA in anticipation of the tariffs to last four months - evidently, in the hope that things could be avoided.

FT was also going to implement higher prices due to tariffs by July 2925 When the pre-tariff inventory ran out but held off on those increases due to the USA-EU trade summit at the beginning of July 2025. When it became clear that no relief from tariffs was possible, FT raised prices on August 1, 2025.

The August 1, 2025 represented about a 7% increase across the board suggesting a partial absorption of the higher rates tariff imposed, and an addition to the yearly 4% increase in January 2025.

Surprisingly enough, Festool responded a couple of weeks ago with some price increases but also, very surprisingly, with price reductions on some products, but an additional 10% and 25% tariff on products in Q1 and Q2 of 2026 is an unwelcome and usurious increase.

So, if you were considering a Festool purchase for later in the year, it seems that it would be to your pocket’s interest if you can move up your purchasing timeframe before prices are increased again.

 

[peter halle]

Well, the point has been made about the possibility of price increases.

It is quite clear to me thru the various messages behind the scenes that what is considered political varies to each. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But what is even more clear is that people want a political free place to talk. So, I'll lock this thread so we can all relax.

Peter