EsAs the anniversary of the independence of the United States approaches, fireworks distributors may be worried about tariffs on goods they historically bought from China. While not immediately impactful, higher firework prices could reduce the size of future displays, Bloomberg reports.
Panjiva data shows that in 2018 China accounted for 91.6% of the value of imported fireworks to the U.S., and as such may not be easily replaced. Imports by value from China are highly seasonal, with the most imported in the run up to the Jul. 4 holiday and before the western New Year.
The value of imports of fireworks from China increased 25.2% year over year in the three months ending Apr. 30. That may be indicative of accelerated imports ahead of the Trump administration’s threatened extension of tariffs to cover all Chinese exports, as outlined in Panjiva’s research of Jun. 12.
The next largest exporting nation to the U.S. was Germany, which saw imports over the same time period decline 28.6% year over year. Imports from the rest of the world collapsed by 49.6% year over year in the same three months, signifying a continued reliance on the Chinese market.
Source: Panjiva
Major specialist fireworks retailers including American Promotional Events, a subsidiary of Anderson News, LLC, Crazy Debbie’s Fireworks, and Jake’s Fireworks could feel the effect of tariffs the strongest.
Jakes Fireworks was the largest importer of fireworks to the U.S. by weight, with seasonal purchases in May reaching 4.74 thousand tons in the 12 months to May 31, Panjiva data shows. Jake’s imports have seen a modest growth of 4.1% year over year in the last three months ending in May, Meanwhile Crazy Debbie’s has increased imports by 30.6% year over year over the same time period.
Americal Promotional Events, one of the main organizers of fundraisers used by many nonprofit organizations, saw a decline in imports by 27.5%. The latter may indicate a decline in the interest in holding those types of events, and may be further compounded by future tariff increases raising costs for already-stretched budgets.
Source: Panjiva
Update (6/24) – Original report corrected to show change in imports by Crazy Debbie’s to be 30.6% not 4.1%.
