{"id":916639,"date":"2026-06-30T23:14:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T04:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/we-have-spent-more-than-100000-in-tariffs-since-april-2025-earthquaker-devices-ceo-calls-for-musical-instruments-to-be-exempt-from-tariffs-as-industry-continues-to-be-negatively-h\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T23:14:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T04:14:03","slug":"we-have-spent-more-than-100000-in-tariffs-since-april-2025-earthquaker-devices-ceo-calls-for-musical-instruments-to-be-exempt-from-tariffs-as-industry-continues-to-be-negatively-h","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/we-have-spent-more-than-100000-in-tariffs-since-april-2025-earthquaker-devices-ceo-calls-for-musical-instruments-to-be-exempt-from-tariffs-as-industry-continues-to-be-negatively-h\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe have spent more than $100,000 in tariffs since April 2025\u201d: EarthQuaker Devices CEO calls for musical instruments to be exempt from tariffs as industry continues to be negatively hit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Image credit: Daniel Knighton\/Getty Images)<\/span>
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A delegation of NAMM<\/a> members and music industry leaders, among them NAMM President John Mlynczak, visited Capitol Hill on May 13<\/a> to urge members of Congress to exempt musical instruments from existing and potential future tariffs, and provide relief from the current tariffs.<\/p>\n

Julie Robbins, CEO of boutique pedal makers EarthQuaker Devices represented the state of Ohio and gave her own testimony on how the current tariffs, in place since last year, have negatively impacted the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarthQuaker Devices has spent more than $100,000 in tariffs since April 2025,\u201d she revealed. \u201cThat’s money that could have gone toward good jobs for Ohioans and provided our team with more resources to innovate.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I asked Ohio’s Congressional Representatives to stand up for their constituents, and I will continue to advocate for relief as long as I have to in order to get them to join the fight in earnest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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EarthQuaker CEO Julie Robbins with her husband and company founder Jamie Stillman <\/span>(Image credit: EarthQuaker Devices)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Founded in 2004, EarthQuaker Devices was founded by musician Jamie Stillman<\/a>, Robbins\u2019 husband, who was previously involved in the cult<\/a> record label, Donut Friends, which he operated from his home in Ohio.<\/p>\n

After successfully repairing an overdrive pedal, Stillman kickstarted his boutique pedal business and, in 2007, released his first full-production pedal, the Hoof fuzz.<\/p>\n

The Hoof quickly sparked the imagination of gearheads worldwide, enabling Stillman to quit his day job and focus on designing and developing pedals full-time.<\/p>\n

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All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

A couple of years later, Robbins joined him as the fast-growing company\u2019s CEO and relocated EarthQuaker to an abandoned glass factory, and later, to a vacant automotive paint warehouse, while also building a fully fledged team.<\/p>\n

Since then, the Ohioan brand has been at the forefront of the left-field and boutique effects boom, and Robbins has also played a key role in advocating for smaller manufacturers.<\/p>\n

Last May, Robbins shared that the business is at risk of going bankrupt<\/a> and, in front of federal lawmakers, stated that the tariffs have increased costs and slowed sales for the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year our exports are down as much as 50% to 100% in some countries,\u201d read her written testimony.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur customers say this is due to anti-American consumer sentiment and the global financial fallout from the chaotic rollout of U.S. tariffs. It is devastating to see America\u2019s reputation fall so swiftly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mlynczak has continued to emphasize how the \u201cunpredictability and suddenness\u201d of the tariffs<\/a> did not give firms \u201cthe time to plan, adapt or evolve,\u201d leaving long-lasting, negative consequences for the industry as a whole.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology and how it is shaping the future of the music industry, and has a special interest in shining a spotlight on traditionally underrepresented artists and global guitar sounds. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Auf der Maur, Yvette Young, Danielle Haim, Fanny, and Karan Katiyar from Bloodywood, among others. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her Anglo-Maltese, art-rock band \u0120ENN<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Music (Image credit: Daniel Knighton\/Getty Images) A delegation of NAMM members and music industry leaders, among them NAMM President John Mlynczak, visited Capitol Hill on May 13 to urge members of Congress to exempt musical instruments from existing and potential future tariffs, and provide relief from the current tariffs. Julie Robbins, CEO of boutique pedal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":916640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[131522],"class_list":["post-916639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business-news","tag-podcast-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=916639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}