With the recent talk of President Trump’s tariff’s on China imports including fireworks, it has raised the question “can the industry survive a 25% tariff”? According to industry experts, the answer is a resounding “NO”
Retailers we interviewed say the average American has a set amount of dollars they will allocate to fireworks, and they rarely spend more than that pre-determined amount. So any increase in price, likely means an equal decrease in product sold in most cases.
Fireworks retail giant Phantom Fireworks CEO Bruce Zoldan met with President Trump and said he’s hopeful the president will remove fireworks from the list of goods made in China that could face a 25-percent tariff. But Trump didn’t make a commitment, Zoldan said.
Zoldan said he, along with a small group of business executives, met with the president last Wednesday to discuss the impact the tariffs would have. While at the White House, Zoldan said he also met with “high-level officials” in the Trump administration about the issue. The meetings came at the request of the White House, Zoldan said.
Unlike other goods that are also made in the United States, fireworks are almost exclusively made in China ,so there are no options to purchase them domestically, Zoldan said.
Everyone remains hopeful the Tariff’s will be removed including organizations such as the NFA and APA which are the two main voices for the fireworks industry.