Hundreds of companies, including some from New Jersey, will head to Washington this week seeking relief from the Trump administration’s tariffs on $200 billion worth of products. They will make their case to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which has scheduled hearings throughout this week and into the next.
Among the New Jersey companies scheduled to testify is Snow Joe, LLC, of Carlstadt, which manufacturers electric-powered outdoor tools. In May, CEO Joe Cohen was able to get relief on parts for his non-gas snowblowers.
In his testimony, he noted that his products are made in America, and he appreciates what the administration is trying to do. But for his company, many of the parts come from China because that is the only source for them.
“When I launched my company, I looked for U.S. suppliers of gas-free powered snow products in the United States but found none,” he wrote in testimony submitted May 15. “I have not found any such U.S. suppliers over the past 14 years. Today I am not aware of any significant production of such products, anywhere in the world outside of China.”
Congoleum Inc. of Mercerville, TRAC Intermodal of Princeton, Absecon Mills of Cologne, and Bloomage Freda Biopharm USA, Inc., -headquartered in Parsippany, are also on the list of companies to testify.
Many New Jersey companies have been frustrated by the impact of tariffs. At a New Jersey Legislative Manufacturing Caucus hearing last week, several companies spoke out against the levies.
“The tariffs for us have been a nightmare,” said Gary DuBoff, CEO of Arrow Fastner Company of Saddlebrook. DuBoff said the banded wire his company needs to manufacture staples is no longer made in the United States and the federal government has denied all six of his tariff exemption requests for the galvanized and stainless steel banded wire he imports from China.
According to Industry Week, the list of $200 billion of goods impacted by tariffs ranges from raw materials used to manufacture products in the U.S. to finished goods like handbags and bicycles. In all, more than 6,000 products are targeted.
