VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Syracuse Mets react to shifting national tariffs
Caleb Spinner, NCC News Reporter: National tariff policy is hitting home across the country — including right here in Central New York. I went to NBT Bank Stadium to see how those tariffs are impacting the Syracuse Mets, and what they could mean for fans’ wallets. Baseball is in full swing in Syracuse, but this season comes with the threat of higher prices, thanks to tariffs. Prices inside the team store, however, have stayed about the same. Assistant GM Katie Stewart says that’s because the Mets got ahead of the game.
Katie Stewart, Syracuse Mets: We do a lot of our ordering, you know, in the wintertime, before the season even starts. A lot of our deliveries started coming in before the tariffs were put in place. So we kind of missed out on a lot of that.
Spinner: China has been the biggest target of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, with duties as high as 125 percent. It also happens to be where the U.S. gets most of its apparel — more than a quarter of it, according to the International Trade Administration. But Stewart says vendors moved fast to curb those extra costs.
Stewart: When the situation changed, a lot of the vendors were reaching out proactively and saying, “We’re not changing the prices for you,” or, “Expect that quotes are not going to be accurate any longer because of the tariff situation.”
Spinner: The bottom line: Prices could go up later in the season when Stewart and her team place new orders. But she expects fans won’t feel any squeeze at the plate.
Stewart: Don’t be scared. It’s not anything that the fan is going to feel.
Spinner: The Mets are home all week hosting the Buffalo Bisons, giving fans a perfect chance to see those prices for themselves.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Rising prices have become a fact of life across the country due to ongoing national tariff policies, including at the ballpark.
Still, nearly three months into their season, the Syracuse Mets have managed to shield fans from the effects of recent inflation. Katie Stewart, the club’s assistant general manager of business development, said early preparation helped the organization avoid much of the financial fallout.
“We do a lot of our ordering in the wintertime, before the season even starts,” Stewart said. “A lot of our deliveries started coming in before the tariffs were put in place. So we kind of missed out on a lot of that.”
One of the main targets of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy is China, which has faced duties as high as 125%. That presents a challenge for teams like the Mets, since China supplies more than a quarter of the United States’ apparel imports, according to the International Trade Administration.
However, Stewart said the Mets have been so far spared from that problem thanks to some quick action from distributors.
“When the situation changed, a lot of the vendors were reaching out proactively and saying, ‘We’re not changing the prices for you,’ or, ‘Expect that quotes are not going to be accurate any longer because of the tariff situation,’” Stewart said.
Although prices have remained stable through the first few months of the season, Stewart said prices could change when the club reorders items later in the year. Even with that possibility, Stewart said fans have nothing to fear.
“Don’t be scared,” Stewart said. “It’s not anything that the fan is going to feel. We’re not raising your prices on food. We’re not, whatever the sweatshirt price was three weeks ago, that’s the same price it’s going to be tomorrow, and next week and the week after that.”