Press Release: NFA Statement on Proposed Tariffs of Chinese Imports

                                                                                  
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-profit organizations.  The fireworks stands and tents you see in grocery store parking lots and on the roadsides serve as fundraising opportunities for organizations like school boosters, churches and veterans’ organizations.  With an unfair tax that serves to raise the cost of firework devices so significantly, we’re hurting the very organizations that make up the fabric of America. 

“Our business is inherently unique because fireworks create a collective sense of joy in our country as we celebrate our national pride and independence.  Fireworks are one of the few things that bring our communities and neighborhoods together in the celebration of our freedom and we need a little more of that in today’s America, one that seems to be so bitterly divided by partisan politics.

“The NFA is committed to doing all we can to save our fireworks and our members are ready to fight to remove fireworks from the list of proposed tariffs.” 

About NFA: The National Fireworks Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the safety of consumer fireworks. Importers, distributors, manufacturers and sellers of commercial fireworks make up the over 1200 small businesses member companies who operate in the United States. 

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