How to write a price increase letter or tariff surcharge notice for 2027

Pella61 days

Spears Manufacturing41

Milwaukee Valve31

Reference: 30-day norm Rockwell's letter cites (not a notice)30

CoviaNotice date taken from its Business Wire release URLAbout 26

Atlas Roofing23

Mitsubishi Chemical America (ALPOLIC)15

Rockwell AutomationEffective 10 days before the letter-10

Days of notice in seven manufacturer price notices, 2025 to 2026

Item	Value (days)	Note
Pella	61 days
Spears Manufacturing	41
Milwaukee Valve	31
Reference: 30-day norm Rockwell's letter cites (not a notice)	30
Covia	About 26	Notice date taken from its Business Wire release URL
Atlas Roofing	23
Mitsubishi Chemical America (ALPOLIC)	15
Rockwell Automation	-10	Effective 10 days before the letter

Three of seven gave 30 days or more. Three other notices reviewed (Assmann WSW, Rathbone, Thiele Kaolin) did not state a notice date. Source: Each manufacturer's published notice, read Oct. 26, 2026.

If you are raising prices on Jan. 1, 2027, your price increase letter should be in customers’ hands by early December at the latest, and your distributors should hear it from you before their customers do. Give 30 to 60 days’ notice. Name the cost driver plainly. Decide whether you are changing list prices or adding a surcharge, because they are different promises. A list price change is permanent, and a surcharge tied to a tariff or an index tells the customer it can come off. Then say exactly what happens to open quotes and booked orders.

The detail comes from reading what other manufacturers actually sent, and from the cost picture behind 2027 pricing.

Why so many manufacturers are writing this letter

Two numbers explain the pressure. The ISM prices index for manufacturing was 77.9% in September 2026, up 6.8 points from August, according to IndustryWeek’s report on the Oct. 1 release. Any reading above 50 means more purchasing managers reported paying higher prices than lower ones. IndustryWeek reported that ISM’s Susan Spence attributed the jump to steel and aluminum prices, tariffs and petroleum-based product prices. ISM’s October report, due Nov. 2, 2026 under ISM’s first-business-day release rule, may change that figure, so check the latest reading before you cite it in a letter. Our analysis of the September 2026 PMI covers where the rest of that report says demand is going.

The second is the Section 232 tariff on steel and aluminum. As of the Congressional Research Service update of Sept. 17, 2026, the tariff is 50% of full value on the steel and aluminum articles and derivatives listed in Annex I-A, and 25% of full value on the derivatives in Annexes I-B and I-C. Lower rates apply to some UK goods and to derivatives made of at least 85% US-sourced metal. Since the April 2026 changes, the tariff applies to the full value of covered goods instead of only their metal content. CRS reports that Proclamation 11032 of June 1, 2026 “expanded the number of products subject to lower tariff rates through 2027.” In CRS’s summary table, Annex I-C sets reduced rates for certain steel derivatives until Dec. 31, 2027, and the lowest go to listed trading partners such as Japan, South Korea and the EU. Commerce also sought public comment in August 2026 on adding more derivatives. If you buy imported metal parts, castings, fasteners or assemblies, check which annex each one falls under before you size a surcharge, because the rate can be 50% or 25% of full value, and your costs may still be moving.

What 10 real price notices say

We read 10 price increase and surcharge notices dated between February 2025 and May 2026, chosen to cover metals, plastics, building products, automation and industrial minerals. All 10 were publicly posted when we opened them on Oct. 26, 2026. Six are on the manufacturer’s own website, one is a company press release on Business Wire, and three are manufacturer letters posted by a distributor, ABC Supply; the table links each one.

Manufacturer	Notice dated	Effective	Days of notice	Type	Reason given	Public index cited
Pella	May 1, 2026	July 1, 2026	61	Price change, 3% to 4% by product line	Energy and certain source materials; competitive positioning	None
Spears Manufacturing	Nov. 25, 2025	Jan. 5, 2026	41	List price, 7% (10% on head adapters), FlameGuard line	Manufacturing, distribution and support costs	None
Milwaukee Valve	Dec. 5, 2025	Jan. 5, 2026	31	List and special net, 4%	“Ongoing inflationary factors”	None
Covia	May 6, 2026 (per the release URL)	June 1, 2026	About 26	Price increase up to 20%	Energy, raw materials and logistics costs	None
Atlas Roofing	March 9, 2026	April 1, 2026	23	Per-roll tariff surcharge removed from synthetic underlayment; new pricing to follow	Tariffs	None
Mitsubishi Chemical America, ALPOLIC	June 16, 2025	July 1, 2025 (purchase orders received)	15	10% tariff surcharge, invoice line	Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs	None (tariff named)
Rockwell Automation	Feb. 11, 2025	Feb. 1, 2025	None; effective 10 days before the letter	1.5% increase on affected product and portfolio groups	US tariff on materials made in China	None (tariff named)
Assmann WSW	Not dated (2025)	2025	Not stated	Surcharge by category, 12% to 65%, invoice line	Section 232 on items containing steel, aluminum and copper	None (tariff named)
Rathbone	Not dated	Dec. 1, 2025	Not stated	Per-pound energy surcharge and raw material surcharge by alloy grade	Not stated; costs evaluated monthly	None
Thiele Kaolin	2026 policy	Jan. 1, 2026	Not stated	Natural gas surcharge, invoice line	Natural gas cost	NYMEX Henry Hub

Notice was short

Of the seven notices with both dates, three gave 30 days or more and four gave less. Rockwell’s letter acknowledges the norm: “In normal operating environments, we typically provide at least 30 days’ notice for standard pricing adjustments.” It then explains that market conditions led it to act immediately that time.

Only one tied its charge to a public index

Thiele’s natural gas surcharge is the model. It names the index (the monthly final settlement price of the NYMEX Henry Hub natural gas futures contract), sets a trigger ($3.00 per MMBTU), prices the surcharge in bands, adjusts monthly, and spells out how it ends: once the index closes below $3.00, the surcharge continues for one more month and stops. A customer can check every number without calling anyone.

1. 1

   Index

   The monthly final settlement price of the NYMEX Henry Hub natural gas futures contract

2. 2

   Trigger

   $3.00 per MMBTU

3. 3

   Charge

   Priced in bands, shown as its own invoice line and adjusted monthly

4. 4

   Exit

   Once the index closes below $3.00, the surcharge runs one more month and then stops

An index-linked surcharge a customer can check without calling anyone. It was the only one of the 10 notices we read that named a public index. Source: Thiele Kaolin, 2026 Natural Gas Surcharge Policy (thielekaolin.com), read Oct. 26, 2026.

Tariff surcharges named the tariff but not a review date

ALPOLIC wrote, “If there is a reduction in the tariffs, we will make adjustments accordingly.” Rockwell said that if the tariff is removed it would remove the 1.5%. Assmann WSW said there “does not appear to be an end date.” None of the three set a date to review the charge.

Removing a surcharge is also a price event

Atlas Roofing’s March 2026 letter removed its per-roll tariff surcharge on its synthetic underlayment as of April 1, 2026, and in the same letter said all product would “invoice at new pricing levels that will be announced for our upcoming April 1st market increase.” Customers will read those two sentences together. If you plan to convert a surcharge into list price, say so in one letter, with the net effect.

The best letters answered the order question

Pella’s letter says product booked before July 1, 2026 keeps the first-half 2026 price “regardless of when the product is shipped.” Milwaukee Valve fills immediate-release orders placed before Jan. 5, 2026 at current pricing and prices orders with later release dates at the price in effect at shipment. Spears accepted orders at current list prices only for invoiced shipments through noon local time on Dec. 31, 2025, from available stock, and took no future-ship orders. All three are defensible, as long as the customer knows which rule applies before they call.

How much notice should a price increase letter give?

Thirty days is the floor, and 60 is better for anything going through distribution. A distributor needs time to update its system, requote its own open bids and tell its customers. Pella gave 61 days on a July 1 change, which is about what a distributor with project quotes outstanding needs.

Before you pick a date, read three documents: your distributor and rep agreements, your largest customers’ supply agreements, and the terms on your own quotes. Many specify a notice period or hold prices for a quote’s validity. Those terms decide your effective date, whatever this article says.

Surcharge or list price increase?

Use a surcharge when the cost is tied to something outside your control that can reverse: a tariff, an energy price, a metal price. Show it as a separate invoice line with its own name. Tie it to a public number your customer can check, such as the NYMEX contract Thiele uses, a COMEX metal price, or a Producer Price Index series from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which also publishes a price adjustment guide for contracts. State the trigger, how often you recalculate, and when it comes off. The same indexes show how much of a customer’s 2026 growth was price; our analysis of durable goods orders by industry found primary metals orders up 16.0% in dollars and down about 4.0% in volume.

Use a list price increase when the cost is permanent: wages, freight, overhead, a supplier’s price that will not come back down. Do not dress a permanent increase as a surcharge. Customers who watch a “temporary” charge outlast its reason stop trusting the next one.

Many manufacturers will need both for 2027, a list price change for general inflation and a separate tariff surcharge for imported metal content.

	Surcharge	List price increase
Use when the cost	Can reverse: a tariff, an energy price, a metal price	Is permanent: wages, freight, overhead, a supplier price that will not come down
On the invoice	A separate line with its own name	Built into the unit price
Tie it to	A public number the customer can check: NYMEX, COMEX, a BLS PPI series, or the tariff itself	Your own cost history
State in the letter	The trigger, how often you recalculate, and when it comes off	The effective date and the rules for open orders and quotes

A surcharge says it can come off; a list price change says it will not. Many manufacturers will need both for 2027. Source: Our position.

Who to tell first

Tell distributors and reps first, then your largest direct accounts, then everyone else.

A distributor that learns about your increase from its own customer has been embarrassed in front of the people who pay it. Send distributors the letter, the new price file and the effective date at least a week before customer letters go out. For your top 10 to 20 direct accounts, the account owner should call before the letter arrives. The letter confirms the call; it should never be the first the buyer hears of it.

Post the notice on your website, too. Six of the 10 notices above are public pages or PDFs on the manufacturer’s own site and a seventh went out as a press release. A public link saves your inside sales team from forwarding the same attachment 200 times.

Template: list price increase letter

Subject: [Company] price change effective [date]

Dear [customer or distributor name],

Effective [date], [Company] will increase list prices on [product lines] by [percentage or range]. A complete price file is attached and is posted at [URL].

This change reflects higher costs for [specific drivers, for example steel bar, resin, freight and wages] over the past [period].

Orders received before [date] will be invoiced at current prices if they ship by [date]. Quotes issued before [date] will be honored through their stated validity date. Orders scheduled to ship after [date] will be invoiced at the new prices.

Your account manager, [name], will contact you before [date] to review your open orders and quotes. You can also reach [name] at [phone] or [email].

[Name, title]

Template: tariff surcharge notice

Subject: Tariff surcharge on [product lines] effective [date]

Dear [customer or distributor name],

Effective with shipments on or after [date], [Company] will add a tariff surcharge of [percentage] to [product lines] that contain [imported steel, aluminum or other covered content]. It will appear as a separate line on your invoice labeled “Tariff surcharge.”

The surcharge reflects the Section 232 tariff on [steel and aluminum articles or derivatives] that applies to [components] we import. It is separate from our list prices, which are not changing at this time.

We will review the surcharge on [date] and every [period] after that. If the tariff on these products is reduced or removed, we will reduce or remove the surcharge for shipments [number] days after the change takes effect.

Questions go to [name] at [phone] or [email].

[Name, title]

In your industry

Industrial Distribution

You will receive dozens of these letters. Keep a log of each supplier’s effective date, notice period and order rule, and push back on any that give you less than your agreement requires. Decide who carries the news to which accounts, too; our guide to inside and outside sales coverage at a distributor covers how to split it.

Building Products

Project quotes can be open for months. Spell out how bid-day pricing is protected, or your distributors will be stuck between you and a contractor holding a lump-sum bid.

Metals and Machining

Build-to-print customers often have long-term agreements with material clauses. Use the index named in the agreement; if there is none, propose one at renewal.

Automation and Industrial Tech

Components imported from several countries make a single tariff surcharge hard to explain. Consider a surcharge by product category, as Assmann WSW did, with the affected categories listed.

What to do Monday

Pull every distributor, rep and customer agreement with a notice clause and write down the longest notice period you owe. Count back from Jan. 1, 2027 to find your real deadline. Decide which part of your 2027 increase is permanent and which is tied to a tariff or index, and write the off-ramp for the second part before you write the letter. Then draft the distributor version first.