Buy Now: Uncertainty Reigns as Brands Brace for Tariffs to Resume

June 10, 2025

In late May, Trump announced that steel and aluminum tariffs would reach 50%. That has big impacts for the stainless steel flasks that High Camp Flasks makes by working with Chinese factories. Even without that additional cost, Trump’s across-the-board tariffs against China reached 145% in May before the president announced a 90-day pause for negotiations.

In this uncertain political environment, High Camp Flasks’ business model becomes untenable, Barisone told GearJunkie. “We reached out to a U.S. manufacturer to get a quote on making our simplest flask product: It would have a $525 cost,” Barisone said. “And with only single-walled insulated available, it would be a crappy version of our existing product … This situation is really scary.”

Now, High Camp Flasks is following the playbook of many other outdoor brands. That means slashing financial forecasts, pausing hiring, postponing new product releases, and divesting from the U.S. consumer market to seek out other markets instead. Gear Junkie