Trump tariff tumult has ripples for sporting goods, puts costly hockey gear in price-hike crosshair

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Calls from the U.S. to Roustan Hockey headquarters in Canada in recent weeks have been anything but routine, as bulk orders of name-brand sticks have suddenly become complicated conversations.

“These customers want to know: When their orders ship, will they have to pay an additional 25% tariff? And we respond by saying, 'Well, right now we don’t know, so they postpone their order or cancel their order because they want to know before they order what the cost is going to be,” said Graeme Roustan, who owns the company that makes and sells more than 100,000 hockey sticks annually to the U.S. market.

The prospect of 25% tariffs by President Donald Trump on Canadian imports, currently paused for some goods but facing full implementation on Wednesday, has caused headaches if not havoc throughout the commercial ecosystem. The sports equipment industry is certainly no exception, with so many of the products manufactured for sports -loving Americans outside of the U.S.

No two countries in the world are intertwined athletically more than Canada and the U.S. are with hockey, either, making mere talk of a trade war a spreadsheet-shuffler — and potentially a budget-buster — for businesses based around the rink and the consumers of their products.

Roustan Hockey bought the Christian and Northland brands that originated in Minnesota and now manufactures them with other products under its umbrella in Brantford, Ontario, the town where Wayne Gretzky grew up about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Toronto. About 40% of Roustan's business is with the U.S. market, and about 90% of sales of Christian and Northland gear go to American customers.

“Our business with the U.S. is steady right now because people are trying to get their orders in before the tariffs take effect, but I’m very concerned that once the tariffs go into effect that there will be people in, say, Minnesota who will think twice about buying a Christian or a Northland stick because of the 25% tariff,” Roustan said in a phone interview. “So the unknown is still unknown.”

Many pieces of retail hockey equipment originate in Asia, including China. Mexico is another player in the market, home to a factory for Warrior brand sticks, for example. Those countries are in the tariff crosshairs, too.

“Whether it’s in effect for a week or gets retracted or whether it’s a future date where we’re going to have some announcement, all that makes it very challenging to run and operate a business,” said Todd Smith, the chief executive officer of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. “The general viewpoint is uneasiness and confusion.”

Roustan bought Bauer's hockey outfitting business from Nike in 2008 and oversaw that company for four years. By the time Roustan assumed control, he said, Bauer — born in Canada in 1927 and a ubiquitous name in the sport — had shifted all of its manufacturing sites to Asia for cost savings on labor and facilities.

“The industry has done an admirable job of manufacturing across the globe while doing as much as they possibly can domestically,” Smith said. “The components made internationally are made internationally because we don’t have the manufacturing capability in the U.S. and we don’t have the workforce.”

In hockey, of course, a lot of gear is required to take the ice. That gear is also notoriously expensive, which puts this sport as subject to the tariff tumult as any. Just in North America, hockey equipment is a $1.3 billion business and growing, as estimated by Grand View market research. Any added cost from the import tax will almost certainly trickle down to the consumer.

Organizations like SFIA have long had an eye on rising costs of youth sports, concerned about the effect on participation and driven to increase accessibility to all activities in underprivileged communities.

“If folks aren’t aware of it now, they should be well aware that tariffs are bad for sports across the board,” Smith said.

Most families with kids in sports are busy enough shuttling those young athletes to practices and shopping for the next round of gear that topics like international politics, global economics and commercial supply chains usually get the backseat.

Tariffs might drive up the price of hockey sticks? Well, just add that to the pile.

For Jeremiah Lamont and his family in Minneapolis, staying on top of the equipment inventory for two hockey-playing boys is enough of project on its own. Paying for it is another story, as his 12-year-old son Max enters each new stage of competition.

“The youth skates cost about $200. Well, his foot grows a half-inch, he can’t get into the youth ones, and now those same skates are $450,” Lamont said, estimating the current total cost of gear at more than $1,500, some of which must be annually replaced.

Ice time and travel costs sold separately, of course.

“He likes it. It's good for him. So we just figure, ‘Why not?’" Lamont said.

The sticker shock is real for hockey newbies, as Kelley Baer and her family in Colorado found out when now-13-year-old Brian got going on the ice. Sticks, skates, helmets, shin guards, elbow and shoulder pads, chest protectors, neck guards, they all add up.

Those sticks don't always last the season, either, that vital-yet-fragile piece of equipment perpetually at risk for fracturing from an awkward hit — or in a moment of frustration. In the NHL, a replacement is always at the ready. A pile of sticks is a luxury many young players don't have.

“I’m like, “No, no, no, no, no! That is a $400 stick. Do not slam that thing on the ice!” Baer said. “We always laugh about that, but it's also very serious. We used it as a gateway of a conversation about showing your emotions on the ice and how you’ve got to be able to contain that as a leader. If you start losing your mind and slamming your stick, that’s a disadvantage for you.”

The life lessons in sports run as deep as the passions that fuel this giant slice of economy and culture.

“Yes, it’s expensive and we are fortunate in that we can afford it,” Baer said. “He's our kid, and we love him. We want to support him in what he wants to do, and we’ll figure out a way.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko protects the net during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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FILE - The Utah Outliers hockey team practices Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in West Valley City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - An Orono player, center, skates with the puck ahead of Minneapolis players during a 10-and-under youth hockey game Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

FILE - Hockey players go for the puck during the final of the women's open division at the pond hockey classic in Meredith, N.H., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Nick Perry, File)

Violent storms cut through a wide swath of the South and Midwest, spawning tornadoes and killing at least three people, knocking down power lines and trees and ripping roofs off homes.

Dozens of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued Wednesday in parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Mississippi as storms hit those and other states in the evening. Forecasters attributed the violent weather to daytime heating combining with an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming into the nation’s midsection from the Gulf.

Sgt. Clark Parrott of the Missouri Highway Patrol said at least one person was killed in southeast Missouri, KFVS-TV reported, while part of a warehouse collapsed in a suburb of Indianapolis, temporarily trapping at least one person inside. In northeast Arkansas a rare tornado emergency was issued as debris flew thousands of feet in the air.

The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed two weather-related fatalities, one in McNairy County and the other in Obion County, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency announced early Thursday.

The coming days were also forecast to bring the risk of potentially deadly flash flooding to the South and Midwest as severe thunderstorms blowing eastward become supercharged. The potent storm system will bring “significant, life-threatening flash flooding” each day through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

With more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain possible over the next four days, the prolonged deluge “is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,” the weather service said. “Historic rainfall totals and impacts are possible.”

More than 90 million people were at some risk of severe weather in a huge part of the nation stretching from Texas to Minnesota and Maine, according to the Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center.

A tornado emergency — the weather service's highest alert — was briefly declared around Blytheville, Arkansas, on Wednesday evening, with debris lofted at least 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers), according to Chelly Amin, a meteorologist with the service.

“It's definitely going to be a really horrible situation here come sunrise in the morning in those areas,” Amin said.

A tornado was also reported on the ground near Harrisburg, Arkansas, in the evening.

The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management reported that there was damage in 22 counties due to tornadoes, wind gusts, hail and flash flooding. At least four people were injured, but there were no reports of fatalities as of Wednesday evening.

In Kentucky, a tornado touched down Wednesday night around Jeffersontown, a suburb of Louisville, passing the Interstate 64 and Interstate 265 interchange, according to the weather service.

Four people were injured in Kentucky when a church was hit by debris from a suspected tornado, according to Ballard County Emergency Management. One person was in critical condition, while the others have non-life-threatening injuries.

In Brownsburg, Indiana, where part of a warehouse collapsed, the police department told people to not travel through the city. Five semitrucks were blown over on Interstate 65 near Lowell, Indiana, state police reported.

Indianapolis Public Schools announced a remote learning day Thursday due to power outages at multiple buildings. At least 10 districts in Indiana have canceled or delayed in-person classes Thursday.

The town of Delta, in southern Missouri, which has under 400 people, had downed powerlines and trees, and damaged buildings. Road entrances to the town were blocked off. School was canceled for the rest of the week as the Red Cross and an electric utility took over a parking lot at the high school.

“There is too much damage in town,” Superintendent David Heeb posted online. “We need to give our families a chance to regroup and take care of the things they need to focus on right now.”

In Pilot Grove, Missouri, several structures were damaged, cars flipped over and power poles were snapped, the state emergency management agency said. Minor injuries were reported, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Authorities in eastern Missouri were trying to determine whether it was a tornado that damaged buildings, overturned vehicles and tore down utility poles, tree limbs and business signs in the morning in and around the city of Nevada.

Another tornado touched down in the northeastern Oklahoma city of Owasso on Wednesday, according to the weather service. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the twister heavily damaged the roofs of homes and knocked down power lines, trees, fences and sheds.

Power was knocked out to more than 330,000 customers in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee as of Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

A line of thunderstorms dropped heavy rain through parts of Indiana on Wednesday night. At least one street was flooded in Indianapolis, with water nearly reaching the windows of several cars, according to the city's metropolitan police department. No one was in the vehicles.

Additional rounds of heavy rain were expected in parts of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley from midweek through Saturday. Forecasters warned that they could track over the same areas repeatedly, producing dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping cars away.

Middle Tennessee was looking at severe storms followed by four days of heavy rains as the front stalls out and sticks around through the weekend, according to NWS meteorologist Mark Rose.

“I don’t recall ever seeing one like this, and I’ve been here 30 years,” Rose said. “It’s not moving.”

Rain totaling up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) was forecast over the next seven days in northeastern Arkansas, the southeast corner of Missouri, western Kentucky and southern parts of Illinois and Indiana, the weather service warned, with some areas in Kentucky and Indiana at an especially high risk for flooding.

Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Seth Borenstein in Washington; Isabella O'Malley in Philadelphia; and Ed White in Detroit.

Storm damage from severe weather on Sunday at a farm along 84th Street near Hanna Lake Avenue in Gaines Twp., Mich. on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A barn that collapsed from Sunday's severe storm along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Gary Deripaska, left, cleans up storm damage at his home off 96th Street North just west of Garnett Road, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

A toppled tree with its roots showing on Woodworth Street in Linden, Mich., on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

An aerial image of a barn that collapsed after a severe storm hit Sunday along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

An early morning severe storm damaged homes, destroying the roofs and knocked down power lines, trees, and fences off 96th Street North near Garnett Road, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

A tree fell and knocked down power lines and blocked a street in a residential neighborhood during storms on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

Lightning strikes as storms move through the area Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Ashland City, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Severe storm damage is shown off 96th Street North between Garnett Road and Mingo Road Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

Ryland Mosley, 18, who was on the 2nd story of his home when the storm passed, stands outside of it observing the damage, Wednesday, April 2, 2025 in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)