With less than a week until President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration, when he’s expected to implement some form of tariffs on imports into the United States, several suppliers who specialize in USA-made promotional products aren’t envisioning increased orders just yet.
“It’s all bluster until it actually happens,” says Jarod Johnson, vice president of sales and marketing at Indiana Metal Craft in Bloomington, Indiana. The company, which won two PPAI Pyramid Awards this year, creates buckles, medallions and drinkware.
“I hope that we don’t get hit with really hard tariffs by bringing things in from offshore, but if we do, Indiana Metal Craft is well positioned to respond because we don’t rely solely on importing goods,” Johnson says. “We have a nice solution for distributors that might find imported products as not a viable option.”
Jarod Johnson
VP of Sales & Marketing, Indiana Metal Craft
‘External Revenue Service’
On Tuesday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he will create an “External Revenue Service” to collect “tariffs, duties and all revenue from foreign sources.”
This comes on the heels of his vows to place 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, as well as a 60% tariff on Chinese imports, which would be added to any Chinese tariffs already in place from his first presidential term and maintained during the Biden administration.
- During the campaign trail, Trump even mentioned across-the-board tariffs of 10% to 20% on all imports.
“It’s all been discussed, but we don’t really know the details yet,” says Jeff Plourde, president of Gallery Leather Direct in Trenton, Maine. Plourde, whose company makes journals and presentation binders, says traffic to his booth has tripled since Gallery Leather Direct debuted at The PPAI Expo last year.
“We’re planning for an increase in business this year, but it’s too early to tell what the impact of tariffs or potential tax credits for U.S. manufacturers will be,” Plourde says.
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Kevin McClary, CEO of Fan Creations in Cumming, Georgia, also expects an increase in business this year.
“When COVID hit and the supply chain was broken, we got a lot of business from people who would order from China,” says McClary, whose company manufactures wooden and ceramic home décor products. “We haven’t let go of those customers. There’s some validity in supporting manufacturing in the United States.”
