Save Our Fireworks

They call it the "Boom Tax" - the name that the National Fireworks Association has given to the tariff that could go into effect this summer, raising the price of fireworks at Chicago's back door: Northwest Indiana. The National Fireworks Association is pushing the Trump Administration to give fireworks an exemption from tariffs. The "proposed tariff is an excise tax" that'll mean $200 million in increased costs for shoppers at the fireworks stands of America. Read the full story and hear the audio here .

On May 24, the  Washington Post published a story about how the proposed tariffs on Chinese imports would impact the fireworks industry and the NFA was featured. From the Washington Post story: The escalating trade clash between the United States and China has sent thousands of U.S. companies scrambling to determine whether they could source goods from other countries to escape higher tariffs. But when President Trump threatened to tag large penalties on  $300 billion in Chinese imports  earlier this month, a sense of panic settled over the fireworks industry. It had nowhere else to go.   Today, of the 250 million pounds of fireworks that are imported to the United States each year, nearly 95 percent come from China, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association. Trump has not yet imposed tariffs on fireworks, but they were recently added to a list of products that would face a 25 percent penalty if China doesn’t reach a broader deal with the White House soon. And if

                                                                                   Kansas City, MO –  The National Fireworks Association Secretary Steve Houser today released the following statement on the proposed list of consumer products from China that includes consumer and professional fireworks: “Consumer fireworks are a seasonal business with an annual economic impact of nearly $900 million in consumer sales.  The proposed tariffs of 25 percent on the imports will in effect be an excise tax resulting in an estimated $200 million in increased cost for the consumer at the point of sale.  It’s important to understand that our only source for nearly all of today’s consumer fireworks is China.  With the regulatory and wage environment in America today consumer fireworks cannot be produced here. “It’s also important to understand that the distributors and retailers who deal in fireworks around the Fourth of July are primarily small family-run businesses and non-pr