During the 36 years he has worked at Imtra, president and CEO Eric Braitmayer has weathered economic downturns, recessions, an onerous luxury tax and other headwinds that have made running the components distributor a challenge.
Now, with tariffs on some SKUs reaching 150%, he and his team are trying to steer New Bedford, Mass.-based Imtra on an even keel while encouraging boatbuilder and aftermarket customers to work with the company on pricing.
“So far, from a market perspective, things have been holding up,” Braitmayer told Trade Only Today. “I would say we’ve had better success in our commercial marine side than with recreational marine, but we are starting to feel the pressure. Overall, the tariff thing has been distracting and chaotic.”
Imtra sells everything from lighting and windshield wipers to windlasses, thrusters and stabilizers. A large percentage of the products are manufactured outside the United States and are subject to tariffs ranging from 10% to 150%. These products are sold to OEM boatbuilders, aftermarket retailers and others. Some products are made in America with imported parts.
“We bring product in from about 30 to 40 countries of origin,” Braitmayer said. “In the beginning, a few weeks ago, Vietnam was at one rate, Norway’s at another, and it was really, really challenging for us to try to strategize on what we should do.”
The positive news, Braitmayer said, is that many suppliers are working closely with his team to mitigate the effects on customers. “We’re working very hard with our suppliers and brokers to identify what we are going to feel,” he said. “We have started to pay tariffs on some incoming shipments. We’re not in a rush to implement anything. We really want to make sure that we’re not overreacting.”
As the on-again, off-again tariff game continues, Braitmayer and his team are trying not to yo-yo along with every day’s news cycle.
“We’re not going to avoid [the tariffs],” he said. “The way we can help our customers is by accommodating the difficulty of all this, by deciding how to present the information to them so they know if any products they buy from us are affected by the tariffs. One of the things we’ve learned as we’ve been talking to our customers is that we’re not selling anymore. We’re just talking, and we’re out there trying to ask, ‘What works for you? What works for your systems?’ ”
Though Imtra’s product line is not heavily reliant on finished goods produced in China, many of the components the company sells are. For example, some products are made in Europe with castings or LEDs made in China. Other products in Imtra’s lighting portfolio are assembled in Long Island, N.Y., but use Chinese components of one sort or another that are currently subject to a 150% tariff.
“Our branded lightning is an interesting example,” Braitmayer said. “It’s built in Long Island, but all the metal castings come from China. So basically, the material cost of goods just went up 150%. The LEDs themselves, the resistors, all that stuff, it doesn’t come from America. I buy it from an American company, but it’s ultimately imported from China.”
Despite the situation, he says, Imtra employees are keeping a positive attitude, and he points to the company being employee-owned as one reason.
“I think that [being employee-owned] is going to prove to be beneficial because it is in everyone’s best interest to figure out how to navigate this in the best way for us and for our customers,” Braitmayer said. “It’s trying to make those decisions about how much of the costs do we take on ourselves, and how much do we have to pass on.”
For now, Braitmayer said, the team is focusing on delivering the high level of customer service it is known for and doing what’s right when it comes to pricing products.
“Were trying to do what’s right for our customers as best we can without damaging ourselves,” he said. “We try to offer a really high level of service, and we don’t want to do anything that forces us to sacrifice that.
“But at the same time, we understand our products are often not a cheap date, and we have to be open to the fact that increased costs are going to present real challenges,” he added. “We’re trying to stay focused on our customers as much as we can and keep a positive attitude.”
