Future Retro says that they’re putting manufacturing on hold because of current tariffs on imports.
The Trump administration recently raised tariffs on imports from most countries, including a 145% tax on Chinese imports. Tariffs are a tax paid by US citizens and companies that import items.
Trump’s tariff plans have been evolving for the last month, though. This is forcing some US companies to put manufacturing plans on hold, until the administration’s trade policy is stable enough for them to do long-term planning.
FR shared updates on three devices:
- The Swynx sync box is sold out, so they are taking pre-orders through their online store.
- No more new Vectra synths will be shipped to stores after this month. They say that they will be out of Vectra parts and do not plan on restocking the product, noting that “The build time and cost is too excessive for us to continue this unique product.”
- Their planned reissue of the classic FR 777 synthesizer is still in development, but has been delayed by parts availability.
They add, “No new manufacturing can be put in place until tariff issues are worked out.”
Update (4/30/2025): Future Retro’s Ferro Barbieri shared additional perspective in a comment on this post:
“We continue to develop new products and work on reissuing a select few Legacy units. Our Swynx reissue is waiting only on US manufactured chassis (boards are completed and here). Our planned re-issue of the Transient which, after a few small engineer tweaks, is completely ready for production, must be put on TEMPORARY hold until import and export costs come down because we don’t think the market will bear a $500 price tag on it.
This isn’t just about OUR cost of parts and unpopulated boards (All of these things are imported by EVERY electronic manufacturing company on the planet, outside the aviation and military industry). It is also about the cost of the finished product to our European distributors, other foreign dealers, and US customers themselves.”
What a shocking turn of events. Who knew that good old American instruments were stuffed with Chinese parts? But what’s this I hear?
It’s Captain Maga riding to the rescue on his elephant!
Where is this being manufactured? China?
Where do you think the parts for this come from?
My most expensive components are not built in China, only the cheapest parts that range from less than a cent to a dollar at most….so it depends per product and manufacturer….more complex stuff the cost will add up….what I build has less than 20 parts total, so this will hit some builders harder than others, also….I recently found an American supply for my most expensive component that was actually price comparable to the foreign made version, even pre tarrif.
i see brainworms is back on the menu. sanewashing the insanity. this is not normal.
Trump!
Guess Future Retro is evil like B
There is literally no device you could have made this comment with that does not have Chinese parts. Anything from China is not automatically evil. That is a highly brainwashed take.
indeed, it’s ridiculous. in fact, you could argue that you want all your lost cost commodity parts to be manufactured with the same materials, supply chain, and process controls: this reduces variation which increases quality; it increases material volumes which reduces cost; it centralizes manufacturing which reduces first level distribution costs and packaging. China’s lion share of manufacturing markets encompass many different levels of quality targeted at many different markets. to assume it’s all one type, and all of it’s low quality, just shows a low level of knowledge about manufacturing, logistics, costs, and literally every other discipline useful in running a manufacturing economy.
This is a convenient strawman for FutureRetro; that company has killed more projects or not met expectations prior to Tariffs. I give their marketing person a high five for spinning it that way but deception indicated. Before that it was supply chain issues and that was pre-Trump. Before that was the the costs of the device itself. It’s sad to see people with incredibly innovative ideas go the way of the dodo but the framing of this story I feel isn’t particularly accurate.
While it is true that the tariffs are a stupid, brain-dead idea from the dumbest, cruelest, most criminal president in history, it is also true that Future Retro has had money issues in the past leading to manufacturing pauses. I’m not surprised that a small company would be impacted by Trump’s awful, very bad, no good tariffs. Let’s just hope they do not shutter too many businesses due to his egotistic attack, destroying America’s strongest economy ever.
Daniel, how is reacting to an economic restriction a straw man?
Even if everything you’ve said is true & accurate (I haven’t followed FutureRetro previously), that reads like a pragmatic business responding to pressures to keep the doors open.
Sad to hear.
More and more small US businesses are being hurt or killed by Mad Trump.
Thanks MAGA. You all suck.
Not surprised but definitely bummed. When the bill of materials suddenly costs 2.5 times more there’s no way companies can keep their margins profitable. Tariffs that cost 1.5 times the actual good are brutal because most of those goods just can’t be replaced with domestics.
Trump is helping to raise quality of electronic music instruments, we can’t stop winning!
i am investing $TRUMP in Work and Poor Houses. going to be a great trump investment opportunity is a rapidly enlarging market for soaking the destitute!
Ferro from Futureretro marketing here.
TEMPORARY tariffs have increased our cost of production by 75% across the board.
WE FULLY EXPECT THIS TO BE RECTIFIED WITHIN THE YEAR IF NOT SOONER.
We continue to develop new products and work on reissuing a select few Legacy units. Our Swynx reissue is waiting only on US manufactured chassis (boards are completed and here). Our planned re-issue of the Transient which, after a few small engineer tweaks, is completely ready for production, must be put on TEMPORARY hold until import and export costs come down because we don’t think the market will bear a $500 price tag on it.
This isn’t just about OUR cost of parts and unpopulated boards (All of these things are imported by EVERY electronic manufacturing company on the planet outside the aviation and military industry). It is also about the cost of the finished product to our European distributors, other foreign dealers, and US customers themselves.
As far as not meeting expectations are concerned, Futureretro, IN THE PAST TWO YEARS, has re-released the Vectra (a major undertaking) , and released the new Transfer Eurorack filter. We are a few months away from re-releasing the Swynx and when tariffs come down, the Transient will soon follow (we hope and believe this will be later this year). There are also two other NEW products close to completion which we expect for later this year or early next. NEVER in the history of Futureretro, have products come to market so “quickly”. Historically there are multi year gaps between products bearing the Futureretro name. Whatever delusion one has of expectations not being met , is drawn purely from a misunderstanding of the production/release history of the company itself, a convenient denial of what we have been able to accomplish, under duress, in the last 24 months, and a woeful shortcoming in the understanding of the engineering and manufacturing processes ESPECIALLY concerning 25 year old products based on technology and parts that no longer exist in quantities necessitating full production runs.
Futureretro continues to move forward at a pace that respects the quality we want to ensure to our customers and a concern for the conditions of the worldwide market & trade agreements, which will at times necessitate changes to our marketing and release plans. Any other approach, in our opinion, would be tantamount to a complete lack of concern for our customers, dealers, and to our own reputation which we do not take lightly.
Ferro – thanks for the feedback and for sharing Future Retro’s perspective!
I noted your comments on the post.
Ferro Barbieri, thanks for speaking publicly about your company’s situation. Hope that you’re right about the tariffs coming down within the year, that you’re able to use this down time to develop new synths & get back to making more gear shortly.
thanks for honestly explaining the situation. we wish you well!
LOL, this is no unintended consequence. Trump has had beef with Future Retro for years!
There’s nothing wrong with Pres. Rump that couldn’t be resolved by dropping a couple of B-3s on ‘im. Add two Leslies, make sure it sticks. Future Retro won’t be the last company slowed to a crawl or killed by this foolishness. It would be an interesting socio-political study if not for the damage that’s just beginning to unfold. My DOG knows tariffs are a losing proposition. The world is too interdependent for that to fly.
“I’ve got this completely under control!”
“Is that why everything’s on fire?”
~ “Thor: The Dark World”
America is a drug, and now everyone is going into withdrawal.
Synthhead & Elizabeth, thanks for continuing to post updates about the state of manufacturers and how they’re being screwed over. It must be frustrating & hard to moderate, but it’s important that niche news isn’t ignored.
Groaner – thanks for the feedback!
While just about anything related to current US politics is polarizing, most readers understand that administration’s new tariffs are raising synth prices and creating challenges for US-based synth makers, which makes this a really relevant topic for our readers.
You got the first bit right: America is a drug indeed, and a very unpleasant one at that.
When I think about all the bad things in life, they all seem to have originated in the US.