DIY Could Get Pricier as Michaels Warns About Impact of Tariffs

(Bloomberg) -- You might want to up the budget on your next DIY project.

Crafts and art supplies retailer Michaels Cos. is warning that retail prices could be hit by the Trump administration’s next round of proposed tariffs on Chinese imports.

An estimated $400 million of its product costs would be subject to the tariffs, Chief Executive Officer Chuck Rubin says. The potential levies of as much as 25 percent on $200 billion of goods from China could take effect after a public comment period ends on Thursday.

Michaels has “a lot of levers” it can pull to mitigate the impact, Rubin said Wednesday at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. retail conference in New York. While he said “there is virtually no possibility of moving manufacturing into the U.S.,” the Irving, Texas-based company is looking into shifting manufacturing to other countries.

Michaels joins competitor Joann in bemoaning the tariffs. Joann CEO Jill Soltau said last month that crafting at an affordable cost is “in jeopardy.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Wolf in New York at jwolf71@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Lisa Wolfson, Jonathan Roeder

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