President Donald Trump’s tariffs could threaten an essential tradition of the most American holiday: Fourth of July fireworks.
According to an industry group, 99% of fireworks are made in China. Trump announced a 145% tariff on goods imported from the country earlier this month.
“It's just too great of a tariff for us to burden,” said Stacy Schneitter Blake, president of the National Fireworks Association. Her family has been in the fireworks business in St. Joseph, Missouri for 130 years.
“We’ve never seen a tax or a tariff or a duty of that kind of percentage,” she said.
At Pyro City in Bates City, about 30 miles east of Kansas City just across the Lafayette County line, manager MaryAnn Crawford said prices now are “normal.” But that probably won’t last after ships from China are unloaded.
“We just don’t really know what’s going to happen,” she said. “I do know that they did cancel some because of the tariffs.”
One of the more popular items around the Fourth, she said, is The Patriot, a box of 24 shells that burst about a hundred feet in the air “with tons of glitter and crackle,” the Pyro City website proclaims. The cost today: $149.99.
“If it’s tariffed, it will be $300. So, you’re not going to be able to sell it,” Crawford said.
The Trump administration has announced, rescinded and re-announced tariffs several times. The uncertainty makes business decisions difficult.
“We do have some containers over in China that we decided to put a temporary pause on until we can kind of feel the temperature of this situation,” Schneitter Blake said.
Wald Fireworks in Greenwood has also cancelled order from China.
Wald produces many of the big fireworks shows in Kansas City, including the one at the Liberty Memorial on the Fourth. But the company also sells to consumers.
A shipping container filled with consumer fireworks costs about $18,000 wholesale, said Wald display manager Daryl Marmon. With the current 145% tariff, that shot up to about $44,000.
“It was loaded on the ship and we had them take it off,” Marmon said.
He said most municipal fireworks displays have already been planned and paid for, but he is concerned about next year.
Fireworks are fairly big business in the U.S. Consumers spend $900 million on them a year, according to the National Fireworks Association. The association claims the new tariffs will cost people $200 million in “an unfair tax.”
The industry has acted.
On April 3, the American Pyrotechnics Association and National Fireworks Association wrote to the White House asking for relief.
“Many members watched your April 2nd Liberation Day speech to our great nation in the Rose Garden. We had hoped for the right approach for the fireworks industry,” they wrote. “Unfortunately, that was not the case.”
The major fireworks associations also met with the White House two weeks ago, Schneitter Blake said. They discussed the burden of tariffs for this year — and next year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
She said celebrations are already being planned and fireworks are a big part.
“Fireworks can unite the nation, the whole country,” she told KCUR. ”Red and blue states all shoot fireworks.”
The letter also stressed that fireworks are “hyper-seasonal” and 99% are made in China. The trade groups said high tariffs could eliminate community fireworks displays.
Schneitter Blake said the industry is mostly made up of small businesses and nonprofits.
“A lot of us are small businesses or church groups, or veterans groups fundraising for their causes,” she said
At Pyro City, Crawford says customers are paying attention.
“They just want to know whether they should buy now.”
