Padel industry faces up to uncertainty as it counts cost of Trump tariffs

The padel industry in the US and elsewhere is facing significant uncertainty over the tariffs imposed and threatened by President Trump on China, the EU and other parts of the world. Padel Business Magazine explores the latest developments and how they could affect the sport’s expansion – with insight from the US, Canada, China and Germany. Report by Paul Cochrane and Jens Kastner.

The international padel industry has been counting the cost of the tariffs threatened and imposed by US president Donald Trump, as imported sportswear and equipment, plus court building materials and gear potentially rise in cost.

Padel faces increased prices which may hinder its expansion after the US levied a 10% global import tariff on most goods, then imposed swingeing 145% tariffs on Chinese exports as of April, until these were largely suspended on 12 May for 90 days pending trade talks. There are still threats of major double-digit tariffs on scores of other countries within 90 days.

Importantly, the heightened tariffs, should they be sustained or ramped up, might slow the growth of padel in the US and Canada, where the sport has been expanding.

Speaking to Padel Business Magazine, Eric Loftus, a partner in Padel Solutions Group, a court manufacturer in the US, says: “The 10% increase is significant and impactful but not enough to shut the market down. By and large, the market will absorb it, with any tariffs in the future passed on to the client.”

Loftus believes the heightened tariffs will raise the cost of a court by US$3,000 to US$5,000. He also notes that with the majority of courts used in the US imported from Spain, if president Trump imposes a threatened 25% so-called ‘reciprocal’ higher tariff rate of 25% on European Union (EU) exports from 8 July, that could prompt “the model to be looked at again” by US padel companies and organisations.

It may cause more court manufacturing to be carried out in the US, although uncertainty over whether tariffs could be scaled back or increased “makes it hard to plan,” says Loftus. “There will be a push for some home-grown US companies, which could be a good thing. But it will raise the barrier of entry [to the sport] a bit due to the price to get in,” he adds. 

A shift towards domestic production and assembly could “normalise how the industry is built-up in the US,” believes Loftus, by pushing standardisation and project management, and reducing reliance on court installers coming from Spain for projects. “Everyone is trying to figure out how to do the infrastructure and logistics, and get US guys,” he says.

Padel has taken off in the US over the past few years. According to figures from the International Padel Federation (FIP) Research & Data Analysis Department released in March 2025, the sport is now played in more than 30 states across the country, with 650 courts in operation – up from 227 in April 2024.

With the sport typically played by middle to high-income earners, the 10% tariff increase is not considered a turn-off. “I don’t think we’ll see a hit to the padel market as it expands, as there is pricing power, and people are loving the game,” says Loftus. “Even with the tariff costs, installing a padel court versus pickleball, tennis or squash is still significantly less.”

Padel equipment impacted in China

That said, the tariff war between China and the US has already disrupted the padel supply chain, and the sport is watching to see if tariffs – which remain high at 30% for US tariffs on Chinese products, but not at the trade-throttling levels of the past two months – are increased again, with bilateral sportswear and sporting equipment trades particularly impacted.

In China’s Guangdong province, which often trades through Hong Kong, and is a major production centre for sports apparel and equipment, manufacturers have quickly felt the effects of these tariffs.

According to Fan Di, associate professor and assistant dean of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Fashion and Textiles, the combination of increased costs and disrupted supply chains is directly affecting padel enthusiasts, who now face higher prices for essential equipment such as racquets, balls and apparel.  

“Another significant impact of the tariff turmoil is a reduction in product variety within the padel market,” Fan tells Padel Business Magazine. “Facing increased import costs and unpredictable trade conditions, many brands have chosen to streamline their product offerings and delay launching new models,” he says.  

Fan notes that sportswear and equipment companies in China and elsewhere are hesitant to introduce niche or innovative products during periods of supply chain volatility. “Instead, suppliers tend to focus on a select number of flagship items that they can reliably procure, temporarily limiting consumer choice until market conditions stabilise,” he explains. 

Padel set to withstand price increases in Canada

Whether that hits padel expansion outside the US remains to be seen. Its northern neighbour Canada is also seeing padel "growth on the upswing”, notes Nancy Malone, president of the Padel Association of Canada, with the American tariffs unlikely to depress the market significantly.

“For many years padel has been stagnant because it was centred in [the western province of] Alberta, where there are 1,000 to 1,200 regular players,” she tells Padel Business Magazine. “But as courts are built in Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver, as well as Alberta’s economic capital Calgary, we are seeing exponential growth.”

A majority of courts in Canada have been imported from Europe or China, although Canadian court manufacturer Bounce Padel Courts, based in Ontario, has “built a lot of private courts in backyard or holiday properties; they have that market cornered,” says Malone. 

The US tariff increase and potential retaliatory measures by the Canadian government “will have an impact,” she says, depending on where padel products are sourced from, and how the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade agreement is affected, as courts and accessories may be imported into the US due to its larger market and then re-exported to Canada.

If products are directly imported from Spain or China, there will be no additional tariffs, but from the US there could be Canadian tariffs, including on steel and aluminium used for courts.

“We haven’t yet seen a shipment of courts hitting the border, and surprise, it’s 10-25% more than anticipated,” says Malone. She says that with brands having “a nice variety of price points” for equipment, the sport should remain affordable despite any price increases.  

Price hikes unlikely to hinder growth in Germany

There is similar optimism in Germany, where the German Padel Association (Deutscher Padel Verband, DPV) does not think the popularity of padel is under threat because of the tariff barriers being erected between the US and the EU.

There are currently 830 courts in the country, up from 200 in 2022, and 5,300 registered players, from 1,100 in 2022, according to the DPV. The number of DPV clubs grew from 65 to 179 in the same period.

“We have finally achieved reasonably strong growth rates that are unlikely to be dented by the developments,” says Steffi Steible, the association’s CEO and ladies team manager.

For individual players, she adds: “Entry-level padel racquets are sold for around €80 to €100 at Decathlon, so even if there were to be price hikes, it would not suffice in discouraging padel players.”

Steible adds that in the upper price brackets, the impact will be even lower. “Similarly, a narrower product variety is highly unlikely to dent our growth, as players would simply make do by switching to whichever models are available,” she says.

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