More than 25 million students take part in school music programs each year, a participation level that relies on a vast network of American retailers who have long imported and supplied the necessary instruments. This ecosystem has sustained music education for decades.
According to a 2025 U.S. report, the flow of these students into the professional sphere fuels a creative sector that generates roughly $1.17 trillion in economic activity, represents about 4.2% of the nation’s GDP, and sustains 5.4 million jobs in arts and culture. The Peterson Institute of International Economics also documented that IEEPA tariffs caused wind‑instrument imports to fall by 27% in 2025.
NAMM’s president and chief executive warned that classifying brass‑wind instruments under Section 232 would further weaken the talent pipeline and push up the price of gear that American musicians depend on to create one of the country’s most celebrated cultural exports—its music. The organization stressed that musical instruments pose no national‑security threat; if anything, the opposite is true.
For more information, visit namm.org.