For nearly 80 years, the US dollar (currency code USD) has been the cornerstone of global finance. After World War II, the USD became the world’s reserve currency and has since served as the standard currency for international trade. It has become the dominant currency for monetary transactions in global capital and commodity markets. Backed by both the size and strength of the US economy, the US dollar has established itself as stable and reliable and has gained near-universal recognition.
I’ve always been aware of the value of the Canadian dollar in relation to the US dollar, as many of my Canadian compatriots are, because Canadians routinely make purchases both domestically and from the US. Of course, American consumers, living in the world’s largest economy, one that can meet their every need, have little incentive to be aware of the relative value of the two currencies.
Traditional times
Back in 1995, when I founded the SoundStage! Network, it made perfect sense to use US pricing even though we were, and still are, based in Canada. This was partly due to the USD’s status as the global currency standard, but also because at that time most of our readership and half of our writers were from the United States. Many of our writers still are, and plenty of readers, but we have expanded our reach to a global audience and now have contributors from around the world.
Furthermore, most major audio brands had a strong presence in the US in 1995, and the US price of their wares was typically among the first to be published. US pricing was a practical and reliable standard by which international pricing could be estimated through currency conversion. US prices for Asian and European products, as quoted in our reviews, would normally align reasonably well with international prices when properly adjusted for the exchange rate.
The foregoing rationale for quoting all prices in US dollars has proved sound, and the practice has served us and our readers well for nearly 30 years. Aside from the occasional exception—such as when a product was not yet available in the US or when US pricing had not yet been announced—a USD price provided clarity, facilitated price comparison, and helped position products within a global value context for both American readers and those outside the United States. In light of recent events, however, this rationale may no longer hold.
Tariff times
The subject of tariffs has never been hotter on newscasts. As we all know, at the beginning of February, in an unprecedented move, US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China, as he had long threatened to do. Retaliatory tariffs immediately followed. On April 2, Trump extended US tariffs to include imports from nearly all other countries. During March and April, US tariffs underwent frequent revisions: declared tariffs were paused, modified, or rescinded; specific new tariffs were introduced; and tariff rates were sharply increased. (At the time of writing, the tax on imports from China amounted to 145%!) The volatility of Trump’s tariff campaign has caused much confusion and consternation, and the shockwaves it is still generating have rattled the global economy and spooked financial markets worldwide.
As a result of varying tariffs between countries, product prices may differ significantly from the corresponding prices in the US (taking the exchange rate into account). Given the potential for price discrepancies, our long-standing practice of providing only US prices in reviews is becoming unhelpful, even misleading, to anyone outside of the US. I also suspect that as part of the fallout from Trump’s tariffs, some products will not even be available in the US anymore.
USD pricing, for years a stable and dependable reference value, has largely lost its global relevance as such. Readers and buyers, however, to be well-informed and make educated purchasing decisions, still need to be able to estimate the domestic prices of forthcoming products and to compare prices of existing products. What could be used in lieu of the US dollar?
New approach
To provide readers with useful and accurate pricing information, we will soon introduce a multicurrency pricing system in our product reviews. When possible, we will include prices in four major currencies: US dollar (USD), Canadian dollar (CAD), British pound (GBP), and the Euro (EUR). These four currencies cover a significant portion of our global readership and reflect key hi-fi markets. This change will be implemented over time; for a while, you will still find only US pricing, our historical default, in some of our product reviews.
To be clear, we are not abandoning USD pricing. To our many American readers and anyone looking to buy hi-fi equipment from the US, USD pricing is the most relevant. However, the current and imminent price hikes on imported goods in the US, including electronics, and potential variability of prices, can grossly distort pricing reality. The situation is now more complex, and requires additional pricing information. Of course, even in the absence of tariffs, or when tariffs revert to traditional rates (which, presumably, they will someday), multicurrency information will always provide a more complete pricing picture.
In adopting a multicurrency format for price information, we affirm our commitment to global relevance, editorial accuracy, and reader-focused content. Anyone not living under a rock is well aware of how much and how fast the world is changing—SoundStage! Network is keeping up.
. . . Doug Schneider
das@soundstage.com
