Tariffs Hit Tucson: Inside the 2026 Gem Shows

Late January is approaching fast, and so is my Tucson trip. I cannot wait to go as this month its both bitter cold and snowy here in New Jersey. But I need sunshine, warmth and bling!

That said, I expect Tucson to be a little bit different this year. And I am not the only one. The biggest issue, of course, is the consequences of the new tariffs. Traditionally, vendors from abroad would bring their goods to the shows, sell their wares, collect the funds and return to their homes with the unsold goods. This year, that cannot happen. We are only exempt from tariffs on shipments from the E.U. as we do not have the required trade agreements with places like Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. While gemstones are an exemption to the tariffs because they cannot be produced or mined in the US (except minimally), for the exemption to take effect we need trade agreements, and right now only the E.U. has those in place. The U.S. does not.

Therefore, as Hemi Englisher from GemCal explains, “all goods from Thailand are under TIB, temporary import bond. We will not be able to sell at the show. If a customer wants to buy, we will need to ship from Thailand once we are back. Tariffs have to be paid by the customer in the USA.” Hemi is bringing fewer goods as a result, and expecting fewer sales. Here’s a link to a blog about Hemi’s zircon inventory. Most of my specialty cut zircon comes from him.

“Cash and carry,” in other words, is not going to be part of this year’s Tucson. With tariffs and shipping, therefore, we will see a 15-20% increase on acquisition costs. According to Eshvar Kotahwala from Kotahwala gems, as well as Dudley Blauwet from Dudley Blauwet gems, vendor attendance at the International GJX show (across the street from the Tucson Convention Center that houses the AGTA), will be lower. Less foot traffic is expected as well. Here’s a very informative article from GemGuide about Tucson 2026. As the article points out, many vendors imported gems just prior to the tariffs last year, opening offices in the US or just finding a reliable partner with whom to stock gems. Many larger vendors keep at least a small presence in the US, as small as one person or household, where inventory can be kept safely in between shows.

However, many gemstones travel around the world a couple of times before finding a permanent home in a piece of jewelry sold to a retail client. For that reason, the industry now has to consider tariff “markups” to cover the costs of international shipping and imports. Shipping costs, incidentally, are up significantly also, as is insurance for the shipping around of high end goods. We just fielded a call for a 3 carat blue sapphire to a client in the US, and shipping between the vendor and myself (only within the U.S.!), even with large shipping discounts from Malca Amit, came to $215 for five stones. And – possibly due to economic uncertainty – the clients jumped ship despite previous assurances of being a serious buyer (and wanting to decide between two of the gems that were exactly what they had asked for). So CRD got saddled with the shipping bill without a sale from which to deduct these costs. Incidents like these, in times like this, raise prices for everyone else. It is the vendors who eat the damage when buyers don’t provide all the facts. This will be the case with all international sales as well, making it difficult to have goods shipped for inspection or with a satisfactory return policy as tariffs can possibly apply each time the goods are shipped.

On the upside, large international buyers like Dudley Blauwet report being able to push down prices to compensate for the tariffs. Smaller vendors cannot acquire enough goods to offset the 10%. I am told to expect a large selection of sapphires from Sri Lanka at his booth. Dudley has also acquired parcels throughout the last 40 years, and he is savvy enough to always hold back inventory to be dug out a couple of decades later when demand for it rises.

Jaimeen Shah from Prima Gems reports to GemGuide that he had a good year with quality goods, in particular, cuprian tourmaline and spessartite garnet (Paraiba and Mandarin garnet, in retail language). And a small business like ours has similar positive news. We didn’t sell that much jewelry because of gold prices, but we did well with our finer quality goods. We generated more revenue selling Paraibas, sapphires, no oil emeralds and spinel in the higher price category than expected. This wasn’t our best year by far, but our prices on those finer goods, especially our older stock, were not raised very much because we are fully online. (It is usually awkward to raise retail prices online, especially if there’s not a pressing need as there is with the runaway inflation on gold).

Nir Zaccharia from Zak Gems has announced some new goods, in particular, green Mali garnets – I am very interested in seeing those at the Pueblo show. He will also bring zircon, and of course spinel, which is his specialty.

My Brazilian vendor will be there as well so I can source more Paraiba melees, specifically in all the sizes that have sold out. If there are any requests for more of those, please let us know. My 1.5mm stock is almost entirely gone. I can take both pre-orders and simple inventory requests as I want to buy Paraibas anyway but need to know what sizes or shapes or hues clients are most interested in working with. Our shop is pretty well stocked right now so I really do need customer suggestions with regard to what I should be buying. I am hoping for more small emeralds again. Greens always sell well – especially blue green gems such as various tourmaline as well as emeralds. Tsavorites and mint garnets do not sell quite as well but they do sell over time. I am hoping my Russian sellers will attend as I am looking for more small demantoid garnets as well.

Here is my exact schedule for those of you who tend to stay in close phone contact with me during the show: Thursday I leave for Tucson. Friday to Sunday I will be at the Pueblo and 22nd Street show where I will be seeing my Zambian emerald vendor, Zak gems and many others including Nomads gems (they sell at the Pueblo show before they move over to GJX, so in order to get their “deals” you need to go early). Monday through Saturday I will be rushing back and forth between GJX (for Paraiba and spinel, as well as all the ruby and sapphire melee I buy), and the AGTA where I mainly see Dudley and Jaimeen and Eshvar. Sunday is the last day of the shows but I will be heading home on that day. Staying in Tuscon is expensive during the shows, as you can imagine.

If you would like me to field a call for you, please contact me (cecileraleydesigns@gmail.com). I may have some terms and conditions because time and money are always tight in that week (I cannot just use my money to buy for you because my money will not stretch to cover everything of interest). You may have to be prepared to Zelle or PayPal me in a hurry but if any good deals are to be had, that is always the best way! I am always happy to be your personal shopper but I cannot be your bank (I wish!).

In the meantime, enjoy shopping our pre-Tucson sale. We are trying to make room (decrease stock size and increase wallet size)!