Views: 3 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-04-17 Origin: Site
On April 2nd, US President Trump announced the imposition of a 10% "benchmark tariff" on all countries, which will take effect at 00:01 Eastern Time on April 5th. In addition, Trump will impose personalized higher "equivalent tariffs" on countries with the largest trade deficits in the United States, which will take effect at 00:01 Eastern Time on April 9th.
It is reported that this is the largest new tariff policy announced by Trump since taking office in January this year, targeting almost all US trading partners, including "equivalent tariffs" of up to 34% on Chinese imports.
With the release of the latest tariff policy in the United States, North American lighting manufacturers Acuity Brands and RAB Lighting immediately announced an increase in the prices of related lighting products.
Acuity Brands announces second increase in lighting product prices
According to foreign media reports, on April 3rd, North American lighting manufacturer Acuity Brands issued a second price adjustment letter to customers and channel partners. Acuity Brands announced a price change a few weeks ago, which will take effect on March 31, 2025. However, due to the constantly changing tariff policies, the company will undergo a second round of price adjustments.
Starting from April 7th, 2025, Acuity Brands will implement additional price increases for certain lighting fixtures and electronic products. The latest acceptance date for orders shipped immediately at the current price is April 4, 2025.
Orders received and confirmed on or after April 7th will be invoiced at the new price. Orders received and confirmed before April 7th, but shipped on or after April 7th, will be re audited and may be subject to updated prices.
In a recent investor conference call, Neil Ashe, CEO of Acuity Brands, discussed the latest tariff policies. He stated that the company has taken appropriate action quickly after learning about the latest tariff policies. The duration of the tariff policy implementation is currently unclear, but the company will make corresponding adjustments based on US government policies.
Neil Ashe mentioned that previously, many companies in the industry had shifted their production from China to countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia to avoid potential tariff risks. Acuity Brands was also conducting related operations, but due to its larger scale and more diversified business, the related dynamics were relatively slow. In addition, Neil Ashe also mentioned that currently about 20% of the company's products are manufactured domestically in the United States.
According to data, Acuity Brands is a well-known lighting manufacturer in North America, occupying an important position in the global lighting market. Currently, Acuity Brands' business is mainly divided into two major segments: lighting and lighting control (ABL) and intelligent space group (ISG), covering commercial, residential, industrial, and agricultural lighting fields, as well as intelligent building solutions and other businesses.
At the same time as announcing the second increase in product prices, Acuity Brands also released its performance for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 (as of February 28, 2025).
The CEO of Acuity Brands stated that the company's performance in the second quarter was stable, achieving net sales growth, expanding adjusted operating profit and profit margin, and increasing adjusted diluted earnings per share.
Specifically, in the second quarter, Acuity Brands achieved net sales of $1 billion (approximately RMB 6.5 billion), a year-on-year increase of 11.1%; Achieve operating profit of 110 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 7%; The adjusted operating profit was 163 million US dollars, an increase of 16% compared to the previous year; Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased to $3.73, a 10% increase from the previous year.
The Lighting and Lighting Control (ABL) business unit experienced a slight decline in sales, achieving net sales of $840.6 million, a year-on-year decrease of 0.3%; Achieve operating profit of 130.3 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%; After adjustment, the operating profit increased to $141.3 million, a year-on-year growth of 3.6%. The adjusted profit margin increased to 16.8%, a year-on-year increase of 60 basis points.
In addition, the Intelligent Space (AIS) division performed well, achieving net sales of $171.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 152%, mainly due to the company's acquisition of QSC Enterprises, which enabled the AIS division to generate revenue of $95.1 million. In addition, the department's adjusted operating profit doubled to 32 million US dollars; However, due to the increase in amortization and acquisition costs, AIS's GAAP profit margin has decreased.
Affected by tariffs, RAB Lighting announces price increase for lighting products
American lighting equipment company RAB Lighting has also announced a price adjustment letter.
RAB Lighting stated that the latest tariff policies issued by US government departments have had a significant impact on the company's supply chain costs, which are beyond the company's full capacity to bear. Therefore, the company announced that it will adjust product prices starting from May 3, 2025, with specific increases depending on the product and the impact of tariffs. Orders submitted and arranged for immediate shipment on or before May 3rd will be invoiced at the current price. The new price information will be released on April 18th through spreadsheets and distributor portal websites.
Data shows that RAB Lighting specializes in producing energy-saving sensors and outdoor lighting equipment, while providing indoor and outdoor lighting solutions.
brief summary
The new tariff policy is having a negative impact on domestic LED lighting manufacturers in the United States. Due to China being a major global producer of key LED lighting components such as LED chips and drivers, the increase in tariffs further increases the production costs for American lighting manufacturers.
Therefore, the new tariff policy of the United States not only affects the subsequent export situation of Chinese LED lighting to the United States, but also brings uncertain development risks to domestic lighting manufacturers in the United States. The impact of future new tariff policies on the global LED lighting industry still needs to be observed.
