Since the European mouldings have always been more expensive than the imports from, say, Taiwan and people are more used to paying more when you identify a moulding being Italian or French in origin, there doesn't seem to be much shift away from those "luxury" items for those that could afford them to begin with. I have not noticed a marked rise in cost (at least no greater than normal annual increases) from suppliers of European manufactured mouldings. Perhaps the adjustments will be seen further down the line as current inventories are depleted and replacements come at a higher cost.
On the other hand, I have seen extraordinary deals on mouldings at the trade shows which included deep discounting on all lines, including European. It seems the soft dollar has forced importers to sell overstocked inventories at bargain pricing to generate enough cash to carry on. Sometimes working from a position of weakness has its advantages.
In a return question, Cornel, how do you see the shift in Euro/Dollar exchange as effecting how you will do business in the US? I see your line as being a good "value" (based on comparisons to other lines that sell in the same price range) and the folks that want that look aren't going to quibble over a slight rise in pricing.
If the Euro continues to be strong against the Dollar, we may see a shift away from buying Euro based products towards items manufactured where the currency doesn't have such an advantage, which will in turn weaken the Euro, making those products attractive once again. Then again, if the American beef market goes down the tubes, we may find that domestic manufacture of these products is once more affordable.
