If the meeting between President Trump and China’s President Xi is unsuccessful, we can likely expect a 25% additional tariff on jewelry and accessories from China by the end of July. This will trigger a host of new challenges with the retailers as higher costs flood the retail market. Not to mention that the manufacturing infrastructure used to produce our products does not exist in sufficient quantity anywhere else in the world.
I want to thank those of you that have already pledged $1,000 dollars to help push back on this action. The money we seek will fund two initiatives; the first will cover the expense of the trip to Washington to testify on your behalf, and the second will allow us to fight for an exemption by HTS Code. This will involve engaging two law firms to prepare legal briefs as to why this exemption makes sense, and to help preserve job loss from this action.
We estimate needing a budget of $20,000 dollars to support both initiatives and are over a third of the way there in pledges. Although much of our funds are coming from our direct members, we represent the industry itself and have accepted pledges from non-members. If the industry fails in joining us to support this effort, our hands will be tied financially. Let us help you and support this effort. For information on how you can also testify in Washington contact me at bcleaveland@fjata.org.
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