Tariffs on imported pro AV gear: what's actually changing for rental and resale pricing

The honest answer, for anyone running a rental house or buying used in 2026, is this: Tariff surcharges are quietly being folded into permanent global price increases, the spread between new list and real-world street has widened, and the used market is doing more of the work than anyone wants to admit. The number on your purchase order is not getting smaller. The way it gets to that number is just changing.

That matters because tariff math used to feel like a separate line item you could argue about. It does not feel that way anymore. Manufacturers spent eighteen months running tariff surcharges as a temporary mechanism. In May 2026 several of them started doing something different. Crestron, for example, is removing its four percent tariff surcharge on May 29 and replacing it with a global price increase whose size varies by product family, with around five percent typical and steeper increases on memory and compute heavy products, per Commercial Integrator's reporting on the shift. Logitech, Cisco, and HP Poly are reportedly making similar moves. That is the headline. Below it is a quieter story about how rental and resale pricing actually clears in this environment.

What changed in the last 90 days?

Three things changed in plain view. First, the surcharge era is ending. Manufacturers are rolling tariff costs into base list pricing because they no longer believe the tariffs are temporary. Second, the dependence on Chinese components has not loosened, even where final assembly has moved. AVIXA's April 2026 industry analysis pointed out that for displays specifically, the cell itself comes 80 to 90 percent from China regardless of where the panel is assembled, per Avixa's nine tariff challenges piece. Third, quote validity windows have collapsed. Where AV integrators used to honor pricing for 60 to 90 days, Pierson notes that 15 to 30 days is now the working norm because tariff rates and freight costs can shift before a container clears customs.

How does this hit rental house pricing?

If you operate a rental fleet, you pay tariffs twice. You pay them once when you replace a console or a fixture line, and you pay them again, indirectly, when your insurance, freight, and spares climb in step. Memory-heavy gear (digital consoles, media servers, processors) is taking the steepest manufacturer increases right now. Steel and aluminum costs feed into your case builders, your truss, and your wheel boards. None of that shows up as a tariff line on your bid sheet. It shows up as a higher day rate when you re-quote a long-standing client who remembers what you charged in 2024.

The honest pressure on rental rates is harder to push than the honest pressure on capex. Most operators are absorbing more of the new gear increase than they are passing through to clients, because day rates in this market are still substantially set by competition rather than by replacement cost. That is what is making the secondary market and cross-rental so much more important than they were two years ago. It is not philosophy. It is margin survival.

Will resale prices rise too?

Used gear is the part of the market that responds first and quietly. When new gear list jumps and lead times stretch, the spread between new and used compresses on the buy side. Inventory that was sitting at thirty to forty percent of new in 2024 is clearing closer to fifty percent of new in 2026, particularly for line arrays, moving lights from the major fixture houses, and any digital console with a current software path. The buyer is not paying more because the used gear got better. The buyer is paying more because the alternative got worse.

Three patterns worth watching:

1. Premium for current-software platforms. Consoles and media servers with active manufacturer support are pricing close to new replacement after factoring in lead times. Older platforms without a current path are dropping further.
2. Discount on memory-hungry boxes. As manufacturers raise list on memory-heavy products, the used equivalents that share the same generation are getting bid up unevenly. Older units with less RAM are slipping. Newer units with field-upgradeable memory are holding firm.
3. Cross-border arbitrage is alive. Currency moves and uneven tariff regimes mean a Robe or Ayrton fixture in the UK or Canada can land at a different effective price than the same fixture sold domestically. Operators with the patience to move gear across borders are quietly doing well.

Should you buy now or wait?

This is the question every operator is asking. The case for buying now is straightforward. New gear is moving from surcharge pricing to higher base pricing, and the second move is structurally stickier than the first. The case for waiting is that memory pricing and freight are both at uncomfortable highs, and a partial reset on either could pull list pricing back in the next two quarters. There is no clean answer.

What is clean is that used gear, sourced through a global marketplace where you can compare equivalent inventory across regions, is doing better in this environment than it has in years. Not because we are talking it up. Because the math is forcing it. AVNetwork's earlier reporting on integrator responses captured this shift early. The integrator decision to either pass through cost, negotiate package deals, or change sourcing has now broadly resolved toward sourcing changes.

What should buyers do this quarter?

A few practical things that hold regardless of which way the trade picture moves next.

• Lock in capex on memory-heavy boxes before May 29 if your vendor announces a global price increase. Even a three to five percent move is meaningful at fleet scale.
• Treat any quote older than 30 days as expired, even if the salesperson is friendly about it. Re-quote.
• Add a tariff and freight pass-through clause to your sub-rental and cross-rental contracts. Many shops are still operating under language written before this cycle started.
• Watch the used market for the gear you would have bought new. Specifically, ask whether the unit has a current manufacturer support path, what software version it ships at, and what the spares picture looks like. The gap between a clean used buy and a problem used buy is widening as fast as the new price.

How does this change in 12 months?

If history is a guide, this normalizes the way the 2022 component crunch normalized. Manufacturers do not roll back base pricing once it is in. Tariff surcharges go away. Freight settles. The new floor is the new floor. The shops that get through the next year cleanest are the ones that buy used where it makes sense, and resist treating every quote as if it will look the same in 60 days.

At GearSource we have been watching this pricing transition closely, both on the new side and across the global used market. The shape of the next twelve months will be set by what manufacturers do with their first post-surcharge price book, and by how quickly operators adjust their sourcing mix.

FAQ

Are pro AV tariff surcharges going away?

Several major manufacturers, including Crestron, are removing standalone tariff surcharges in 2026 and replacing them with global base price increases. The dollar impact on dealers and operators is roughly the same or slightly higher in many product categories. The change is structural, not a discount. Other major AV and unified communications suppliers are reportedly making similar moves over the same window.

Which pro AV products are seeing the steepest price increases in 2026?

Memory-heavy and compute-heavy products are taking the largest increases. That includes digital audio and lighting consoles with substantial onboard processing, media servers, video processors, and control system head ends. Memory pricing has moved sharply, and these product families carry more of it. Steel, aluminum, and freight costs are pushing case, truss, and rigging-adjacent gear higher in parallel.

How do tariffs affect used pro AV equipment prices?

Used prices rise when new prices rise and lead times stretch. The spread between new list and used clearing prices has compressed in 2026, with strong used line arrays, moving fixtures, and current-generation consoles holding firmer percentages of new replacement value than they did in 2024. Older platforms without current manufacturer software support are diverging downward.

Should rental houses pass tariff costs through to clients?

Most shops are absorbing more of the increase than they are passing through. Day rates are set primarily by local competition rather than by replacement cost, so a clean pass-through is rare. Operators are managing the gap by increasing cross-rental, buying more carefully on the used market, and tightening contract language around tariff and freight escalations on long-dated bookings.

How long are AV quotes valid in 2026?

Quote validity windows have shortened from a typical 60 to 90 days down to 15 to 30 days at most integrators. The reason is that tariff rates and freight costs can move while equipment is in transit. Anyone presenting a longer-dated quote is either taking on the price risk themselves or has built a margin cushion to absorb it. Both are worth understanding before signing.

By Marcel Fairbairn, founder of GearSource. 24 years buying, selling, and brokering pro-AV gear globally.