Originally published at: https://therestartproject.org/consumption/why-tariffs-make-repair-even-more-urgent/
Tariffs. New tariffs, existing tariffs, delays to increased tariffs, zero tariffs… The last few weeks have been a true roller-coaster of breaking financial and economic news. Of course this is an extremely complex issue, affecting jobs and opportunities to export goods as well as the cost of importing others.
But at the heart of most of these debates lie assumptions around infinite economic growth, about selling more and changing barriers to producing and consuming more.
We’re on a different path.
Repair is resilience
We notice that we’re flooded by throwaway products being produced and discarded at a rate our planet can’t sustain. We need real system change to make the repair, reuse and refurbishment of existing products the norm.
Sure, even spare parts and components that extend the life of products might well be affected by tariffs, now or in the future. But the more we extend the life of the things we already own, the less reliant we become on global supply chains, the fewer raw materials we need to extract and the less we have to rely on expensive and often inefficient technologies to extract reusable materials from discarded products via recycling.
We appreciate we’re not talking about exporting parmigiano cheese or importing bourbon whiskey. But regardless, choosing to repair and to hold on to all that can be repaired stands out as an effective way to mitigate these kinds of geopolitical and economic shocks.
As previous economic and supply chain shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns have reminded us – it’s imperative that we develop alternative, more decentralised economies, not as dependent on the availability of everything, everywhere, all of the time.
Being able to repair can make communities less vulnerable to these impacts and more self-reliant, in multiple ways. For example, repair makes us less dependent on buying new products, avoiding issues with their availability and not being subject to price hikes. In fact, we’re actively working on making repair even more appealing and affordable, with our pilot of 50% off on repair prices with repair vouchers.
Crucially, repair and reuse also help us strengthen our communities by building relationships and support networks: we see this every single time we run or visit a community repair event, where volunteers generously lend their skills to inspire participants in learning how to fix and maintain their products.
Zooming out, our vision of local repair ecosystems – community events, repair shops, Fixing Factories – also reduces dependence on manufacturers themselves, who are often unable or unwilling to provide the repair support we need to resist the usual marketing wave of “upgrade, replace, recycle”.
And of course repair offers an effective way to reduce our environmental impact, contributing to reduced climate disruption.
So, what do we want?
Regardless of the next headlines, we’d love policymakers not to forget to focus on laws and policies that make repair more affordable and accessible for everyone. There are simply still too many barriers for too many products making repair too difficult and/or expensive. This is why we call for a universal Right to Repair.
In the UK, we want to see the demands of our Repair and Reuse Declaration – already signed by around 400 organisations and nearly 50 MPs – taken seriously by policymakers. We want repair to be made more affordable; Right to Repair regulations that cover all consumer products; a repair index to help the public choose more repairable products; requirements and targets for reuse and repair to be prioritised over recycling; and government support to train a new generation of repairers.
We invite everyone to ask their MPs to endorse our work.
Email your MP about repair and reuse today
At European level, our Right to Repair Europe coalition keeps on pushing to widen the range of products covered by repairability requirements and consumer rights on repair. Yet we’re concerned about the slow speed at which all of this is progressing. We hope that policymakers will increase their support for repair and reuse while developing the upcoming Circular Economy Act.
Follow the work of the coalition
We know change is possible – the success in requiring that all new smartphone models introduced in the EU from June this year be more repairable and substantially more durable is a step in the right direction.
But we need much more.
Whatever economic disruption lies ahead, prioritising repair through local action and government policy stands out as a way to invest in our communities’ resilience and climate mitigation.
