I own a number of CaseLabs cases, and they are wonderful. I will miss them a lot.
CaseLabs products were built primarily out of 2mm thick aluminum sheet. CaseLabs
itself was a pretty small operation, a long-time specialty machine shop that found a
nice little side business making high-end cases. They had a single building and not
more than a couple dozen employees.
The tariffs in this case are likely the aluminum and steel tariffs which went into effect
in early June. A small shop like CaseLabs (and many other specialty manufacturers)
cannot afford to keep large stocks of material on-hand. They depend on an efficient
supply chain, i.e. the ability to order more material on a day-to-day basis at consistent
prices to meet incoming orders
The supply chain for metal stock for machine parts is complex with multiple vendors
to go from raw ore to machining-ready sheets and bars. As soon as the aluminum and
steel tariffs were announced -- well before they were implemented, the supply chain for
metal stock started increasing prices. Availability dropped and lead-times went up.
From the point of view of small-business management, effects like this are real and can
drive you out of business very quickly.