A Message from the President: Staying Ahead in a Shifting Market

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A Message from Stewart Switzer, President of Executive Advertising

Staying Ahead in a Shifting Market

Dear Valued Customers,

As always, we’re committed to transparency, reliability, and helping your brand succeed - no matter the economic landscape. With recent developments around global trade and U.S. tariffs, I want to personally share what’s changing and how Executive Advertising is preparing to help you adapt smoothly and smartly.

What’s Happening

Tariff fluctuations and global trade are creating unstable prices in our industry. The first items that are being affected are the products that have no inventory and those suppliers directly import into the US from China, they are hurt the most and have had immediate price increases. Fortunately these items are usually specialty items such as Rubber Ducks, Outdoor Tents, Retractable Banners, Outdoor Banners, Lapel Pins, Wireless Phone Charges and other unique items that may not sell as frequently. Suppliers for these goods began reaching out for price increases last week, and most of those price increases are completed on our website. 

The second set of price increases will likely be from the smaller suppliers that don’t have a lot of inventory, but they have enough to get through the next 3 months. These will be on all other items that are not necessarily specialty items but more common items such as bags, toys, executive gifts, drinkware, etc. These items will likely see low inventory, followed by price increases when the stock is replenished. The smaller suppliers will try to hold out on their orders until the trade negotiations are completed, and if these tariffs are in place longer than 3 months, most of them will not have enough existing inventory to be ready for the “Fall Rush” on promotional products. So collectively these smaller suppliers will create a shortage of goods in the market for the fall season. 

Who Wins? The larger suppliers that have spent millions of dollars in accumulating inventory in the U.S., that’s who will win. When your core products have hundreds of thousands of just one color tote bag, you can wait out the tariff negotiations longer than everyone else. And most of these suppliers will not price gouge as they purchased these goods well before the tariffs were implemented, and they want to sell/cycle their inventory.

How is Executive Advertising Going to Help Me?

1. Keep Prices Low - We’ll keep our pricing as low as we can for as long as we can.
2. Inventory Updates - When products have low inventory they don’t show up at the top of our category pages or search results. Keeping our live inventory check working will be critical if the inventory becomes a problem in the Fall of 2025.
3. Continue to promote USA Made Promotional Products - We all want more American made products, but we all know it’s hard for the US companies to compete with the cheapness of China’s products. We will continue to add more to our American made selections as we see any new US Manufacturers in that sector. We’re proud to offer a growing selection of close to 4,000 Made-in-America promotional products that offer stability and long-term value in this uncertain environment.

A reminder that this is all contingent on the ongoing tariff negotiations, if the US and China can come to an agreement soon, these problems go away.

What You Can Do Now

Place orders sooner rather than later for any promotional products that you are considering purchasing between now and Christmas 2025, or even Early Spring of 2026. At the very least get your orders in for your Fall Merch asap to avoid any possible price increases or inventory delays. 

The Made-in-USA Advantage

We’re proud to offer a growing selection of close to 4,000 Made-in-America promotional products that offer stability and long-term value in this uncertain environment.

This is a moment for thoughtful planning, not panic. We’ll keep you updated with honest insights as the trade landscape evolves.

Sincerely,

Stewart Switzer 
President, Executive Advertising

Here are just a few standout categories available now with steady pricing:

• Customizable Post-it® Notes
• Custom Logo Magnets and Mousepads
• Full Color Labeled Lip Balm
• Sun Bum Sunscreen Promotional Items
• Promotional Liquimark Brand Writing Instruments
• Pens with Your Full Color Logo
• Customized Reusable Stadium Cups
• Custom Disposable Cups
• Promotional Mood / Color Changing Drinkware
• Custom Logo Key Chains