YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – President Donald Trump’s decision to levy another 125% in tariffs against China has threatened to take the boom out of this year’s summer celebrations, causing a local retailer to temporarily cease production overseas.
“It’s a tremendous burden,” said Bill Weimer, vice president of Phantom Fireworks Inc. “We’ve stopped production in China. It’s just an impossible situation.”
Weimer said China supplies between 98% and 99% of consumer fireworks to the United States, leaving no other source for the retailer’s bottle rockets, roman candles, repeaters, mortars, sparklers and dozens of other products, he said.
Should the tariffs remain intact on fireworks, it could impact business into 2026, Weimer warned. “We hope things could get resolved so we can get back on track,” he said. “It’s a mess.”
Weimer did not specifically divulge just what the company’s next moves will be but added it would make its concerns known. “We are working very hard to try and get our case before the appropriate people,” he said.
In February, the Trump administration announced it would levy a 10% tariff on Chinese products imported to the U.S. In March, the administration added another 10% for a total of 20%. The 125% recently announced by the White House brings the total to 145%.
China has announced retaliatory tariffs of 125%.
This isn’t the first time that Phantom was confronted with the prospect of Chinese tariffs, Weimer said. In 2019, during the first Trump administration, the United States presented a list of more than 3,000 Chinese imports worth $300 billion that could potentially be subject to a 25% tariff. Fireworks were among those on the list.
In May of that year, Bruce Zoldan, Phantom Fireworks president and CEO, traveled to Washington to meet with Trump and pressed the case for exempting fireworks from tariffs. In late June, fireworks were removed from the list of potential tariff targets.
Weimer said the purpose of tariffs is to drive up foreign-produced goods so domestic manufacturers can compete. However, in the case of consumer fireworks, there are no domestic producers, leaving companies such as Phantom wholly dependent on China for their business.
Other countries manufacture a limited type of consumer fireworks and do not have the capacity to serve the U.S. market, he said. Only China produces a full line of fireworks.
At the very least, the price of consumer fireworks will increase should tariffs on fireworks remain in place.
According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, consumer fireworks revenue in the United States hit $2.2 billion in 2023. Display fireworks revenue reached $500 million during the year.
“There’s not one manufacturer in the United States that makes consumer fireworks,” Weimer said. There are a handful of companies that manufacture pyrotechnic products for aerial shows, but not for personal use, he noted.
“So we’re stuck,” Weimer said.