Moog says that Trump tariffs will endanger US jobs and may force it to move synth manufacturing overseas

Iconic synth company Moog Music has issued a stark warning about the potential impact of a new 25%, import tax that’s set to come into effect on 6 July 2018.

Moog says that the controversial tariff, which is being proposed by Donald Trump, will “drastically increase the cost of building our instruments, and have the very real potential of forcing us to lay off workers and could (in a worst case scenario) require us to move some, if not all, of our manufacturing overseas.”

Moog’s instruments are manufactured at its Asheville base in North Carolina, which is staffed by 100 people. Around half of its circuit boards and other components are currently sourced from China.

Customers have received an email from Moog encouraging them  to write to their elected officials in the US to protest against the new tax in the hope that it can be stopped. You can read the company’s statement here.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.