Navigating Jewelry Tariffs: Planning Ahead With a Multi-Country Manufacturing Network

Tariffs have become another variable jewelry brands have to plan around, but they don’t have to dictate your entire manufacturing strategy. At Atila, we’ve been working ahead of tariff changes with our clients, using our manufacturing network, Los Angeles capabilities, and logistics experience to find the right production approach for each program and soften the impact where we can.

That doesn’t always mean moving production.

Sometimes the right answer is manufacturing in the U.S. Sometimes it means using one of our international facilities. Sometimes it means changing how different parts of a program are produced or finished.

The important part is having options before you need them.

“We know manufacturing, logistics, imports, and tariffs well enough to help clients plan intelligently and reduce the impact where legitimate options exist.” – Atila

Our Approach Has Been to Plan Ahead

When tariffs began changing the economics of international manufacturing, our priority was not to wait until the additional costs showed up on a client’s next order.

We wanted to understand the impact early and build a game plan with our clients.

For each program, that means looking beyond the tariff itself and considering the complete manufacturing picture:

• What are we producing?
• What material is being used?
• Where is it currently manufactured?
• What production capabilities does it require?
• What volumes are involved?
• What does the client need to hit from a cost standpoint?
• What are the logistics requirements?
• What tariffs and import requirements apply?
• Is there another location in our network that makes sense?
• Would moving production actually improve the overall economics, or create new problems elsewhere?

A lower tariff doesn’t automatically make a different manufacturing location the better choice.

Quality, cost, capacity, timing, materials, logistics, and tariffs all have to be considered together.

And ultimately, the strategy is developed with our client. We can present the options and explain the manufacturing and logistics implications, but the final approach needs to make sense for their product and their business.

A Multi-Country Network Gives Us More Options

This is where having a global manufacturing footprint becomes especially valuable.

Atila currently manufactures for clients through facilities and manufacturing partners in:

• United States / Los Angeles
• Indonesia
• Armenia
• Italy
• China

Each location has different capabilities and areas of expertise.

Our Los Angeles facility gives clients access to U.S. manufacturing at meaningful scale, particularly for gold, silver, higher-end production, local finishing, and programs where domestic manufacturing makes sense.

Indonesia gives us significant production capacity for larger programs.

Armenia provides additional capabilities for high-quality gold and silver production, along with other manufacturing needs.

Italy remains an important option for chain manufacturing.

And our newest expansion into China gives us significant new capacity, particularly for stainless steel jewelry.

The advantage isn’t simply that we manufacture in five countries. It’s that we can look across those options when conditions change.

Tariffs Are One Part of the Manufacturing Decision

It can be tempting to look at a new tariff and immediately say, “We need to move production.”

In practice, manufacturing isn’t that simple.

A factory may have a lower landed tariff cost but higher production costs. Another location may be less expensive but unable to achieve the volume or finish required. Moving an established product can require new tooling, sampling, testing, and production setup.

You also have to consider lead times, freight, material availability, quality control, and the client’s existing inventory and retail commitments.

That’s why we look at the total manufacturing strategy, not one number in isolation.

For some clients, producing in Los Angeles may become more attractive because it removes the need to import the finished jewelry and gives us tighter local control.

For another program, overseas manufacturing may still provide the best combination of scale, expertise, and cost even after tariffs are considered.

And in other cases, having capabilities in several countries gives us an opportunity to restructure how the product moves through the manufacturing process.

There isn’t one tariff strategy that works for every jewelry brand.

Our Los Angeles Facility Gives Us Another Important Option

Our U.S. manufacturing capability has become even more valuable as the tariff environment has changed.

We’re one of the relatively few jewelry manufacturers that can produce at meaningful scale here in Los Angeles.

That gives clients another path when domestic manufacturing makes sense based on their product, materials, pricing, timeline, or tariff exposure.

Our Los Angeles operation can also provide finishing and other manufacturing capabilities for certain programs that involve international production.

Having that operation here means we aren’t approaching global manufacturing as a company that simply places orders with overseas factories.

We actually manufacture jewelry ourselves.

That gives our team a different perspective when evaluating how a product should be made, what can realistically be moved, and what compromises may come with changing production.

Logistics Experience Matters More Than Ever

Choosing the right factory is only part of navigating tariffs.

Understanding how products move internationally, how they are classified, what import requirements apply, and how changing trade rules affect the landed cost is another part of the equation.

This is an area where our logistics team plays a major role.

We have people on our team with deep experience managing international logistics, and their job is to stay close to these changes and understand how they affect the programs we manufacture for our clients.

Our approach is straightforward: understand the rules, stay compliant, and identify legitimate opportunities to structure manufacturing and logistics more efficiently.

That knowledge becomes particularly valuable when trade conditions start changing quickly.

Sometimes the Best Decision Is Not to Move

Having factories in multiple countries doesn’t mean we constantly move production between them.

Quite the opposite.

Moving a successful production program unnecessarily can introduce new tooling costs, quality risks, sampling requirements, and delays.

If the existing manufacturing strategy still produces the best overall result for the client, we may recommend keeping it exactly where it is.

The point of having options is not that we have to use all of them.

The point is that we can make the decision based on what is best for the client rather than being forced into one answer because we only manufacture in one place.

This Is Why We Built a Global Manufacturing Network

When we talk about our manufacturing footprint, it’s easy to focus on the number of countries.

But that isn’t really the important part.

The advantage is flexibility.

Tariffs change.
Material prices change.
Shipping conditions change.
Capacity changes.
Client requirements change.

And sometimes an entire product category changes. The growth we’re seeing in stainless steel is a good example. As more brands explore stainless, our expansion into China gives those clients access to a manufacturing ecosystem that is particularly strong in that material and capable of supporting significant volume.

Our job is to look at all of those factors and help our clients make smart manufacturing decisions.

We want to be thinking about the problem before it becomes your problem.

That means planning ahead, understanding the options, and using our manufacturing and logistics network to help deliver the right product, at the right cost, on the right timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Atila help jewelry brands manage tariffs?

Atila looks at tariffs as part of the overall manufacturing strategy rather than as an isolated cost.

We evaluate the product, material, production requirements, manufacturing location, volume, logistics, timeline, and applicable import considerations with the client. Because we manufacture across multiple countries and in Los Angeles, we can evaluate different production options when tariffs materially change the economics of a program.

Can Atila move jewelry production to another country to reduce tariff exposure?

Potentially, but moving production is not automatically the right solution.

Different locations have different capabilities, costs, minimums, lead times, supply chains, and areas of expertise. Moving an existing program may also require new sampling, tooling, or production setup.

Atila evaluates those factors with the client before recommending a change.

Does manufacturing jewelry in the United States avoid tariffs?

Manufacturing the finished jewelry domestically removes the need to import that finished product into the United States, which can reduce exposure to duties and tariffs associated with importing finished jewelry.

The complete cost still depends on the materials, components, sourcing, and specific manufacturing program.

Where does Atila manufacture jewelry?

Atila manufactures for clients through a network that includes Los Angeles, Indonesia, Armenia, Italy, and China.

Different locations offer different capabilities, which allows Atila and its clients to determine where a particular program makes the most sense based on materials, quality, volume, pricing, timing, logistics, and current trade conditions.

Does Atila decide where a client’s jewelry should be manufactured?

It is a joint decision.

Atila uses its manufacturing and logistics experience to evaluate the available options and explain the advantages and tradeoffs of each approach. We then work with the client to determine the manufacturing strategy that best fits their requirements and business goals.