Tariffs Are Making Instruments So Expensive, School Music Programs Are at Risk

Jeff Lipscomb, a high school orchestra director in Kanawha County, W.Va., has been doing a lot of math.For example, he has 12 cellists but only 10 cellos.If the school district gives him a total budget of $500 to $600 for the year, but one new cello costs more than $1,000, what should Mr.

Lipscomb do? What if he needs some new violins and violas, too?“I’ve actually had to buy instruments out of my own pocket,” Mr.Lipscomb said from his classroom at South Charleston High School on the first Monday of the school year.

“I just kind of have to.”Like many music teachers, Mr.Lipscomb has become attuned to tight budgets.

Lately, though, the cost of instruments has ballooned beyond his ability to make do.Pandemic-era supply chain snarls lifted prices for goods across the board.President Trump’s global tariffs further swelled the cost of foreign-made instruments.

Then in August, the Trump administration proposed additional 25 percent tariffs on trumpets, tubas and other brass instruments, citing “national security threats” under a provision it has used to impose duties on foreign metals.The consequences have reverberated across the country.Higher instrument prices are a particular threat to lower-income districts where enrollment and budgets are shrinking.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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