2010 is going to prove to be a miserable year for imports.  The Dollar is in the dump against the Yen.  Shipping rates are through the roof (both international and domestic).  Restocking and repricing are going to be interesting.  Don’t be surprised if tool and container prices jump 30-40% – just to keep the same, slim dollar margin (there’s no way to keep this stuff affordable to people and keep margin percentages).  What we need now is a good, reasonably-priced, domestic tool manufacturer.

Take advantage of current inventories – from us or your favorite domestic vendor – before prices go straight through the roof.

On the whole, I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing.  I do think coming out the far side of this we will see an upswelling of interest in small (shohin) and mini (shito/mame) bonsai – if only because the costs are less.