While the cost of your next 3D printer may be going up in the U.S., the cost of your filament doesn’t have to increase. Or that is, it won’t if you buy American. Many customers in the U.S. are bemoaning the impact of President Trump’s tariff war on their favorite hobby, with new 3D printers possibly going up hundreds of dollars or remaining mysteriously out of stock.
Polymaker, a global supplier of affordable filament, recently announced that it will be forced to increase prices by 10% on May 1st. In a statement issued on its website, Polymaker said it reviewed the amount of stock sitting in U.S. warehouses before making the difficult decision to hike prices to compensate for tariffs.
I had the chance to talk to Polymaker representatives at Rapid + TCT in Detroit earlier this month and ask them if the new Houston, TX plant would help keep costs down. The answer was yes and no. Unfortunately for the average consumer, the Texas facility specializes in wholesale customers and only produces PLA, PETG, ABS, and ASA in limited colors. You also have to buy over $1,000 in materials to place a wholesale order. But if that’s you, congratulations, your prices are holding steady.
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American Made 3D Printer Filament
Many American filament manufacturers are able to keep their supply chain domestic thanks to NatureWorks, a U.S. plastics company that creates raw PLA pellets from Nebraska-grown corn.