To NAWFI’s Valued Professional Florists,

Tariffs!!! Another challenge to deal with.
We received notice from our farms in Columbia and Ecuador through Trade Winds, our buying group, that as of 12:01 AM on Saturday, April 5th, all Airway Bills will have an added 10% tariff.

No one considered that the United States has an agreement that flowers from Columbia, shipped to the U.S., do not have tariffs added. There has been an agreement with Ecuador as well, but Congress cannot seem to bring it up for a vote so we have been paying 6.8% for years. Now it has increased 10% more.

Since these tariffs are only on the cost of the product being exported, there is no tariff on the air freight, truck freight, or for clearing customs costs, etc..

In wholesale the margins are very narrow, therefore NAWFI has calculated that 6% added to our current price list for Mother’s Day will cover our added costs from the tariffs.

We will continue to closely monitor the tariff situation, and if anything should change we will act promptly.

Thank you for your understanding.

Harry C. Whelden

President/General Manager