Made In America: Trends, Tariffs & The Environment
Made in America has received a heavy dose of press of lately with the pandemic, trade negotiations and the implementation of tariffs that have dominated the news cycle. These are uncertain times.
Imported furniture from China has allowed customers to meet aggressive lead times and offer low cost solutions. In turn, these manufacturers have often compromised quality, design integrity and made decisions that are harmful to the environment. You simply cannot cast this in any other way. The ecological issues raised by buying new furniture every 2-5 years is one of great waste. Chinese manufacturers have proven to be no friend to our environment or to the American worker. Add to it the ongoing concerns about the origins and communications related to our world’s pandemic and we as a group are more committed than ever to our Japanese, North American and European manufacturers.
Seibold Baker is a believer in offering quality products that last the test of time. We’ve learned this with much experience. This does often come at an initial higher cost. Our manufacturing partners know that quality and craftsmanship provides better long-term value, is gentler to our planet and better for our American workers.
This ultimately leads to a better buying experience for our clients. The reliability of domestic sources, sometimes in support of European manufacturers, gives our specifiers, end users and dealer customers the confidence and comfort to know that their orders will come in on time and right. Four weeks “on the water” is a barrier to service that cannot be overcome when inventory levels are low.
The market will continue to change as design trends evolve. The value, craftsmanship, environmental sustainability and quality designs offered by our partners will remain important values as they continue to lead the market. All of our manufacturers call North America, Europe and Japan their homes. All with U.S. showrooms, assembly operations and U.S. based business centers to support our American market. We are proud that we can make this statement.
Please contact your local Seibold Baker rep or use our Contact Us page for more information on any of our manufacturers.
Here is is just one example from one of our manufacturers:
April 13, 2021
Good Day,
As I write there are a reported 32 cargo ships sitting at the Port of Los Angeles anchored and waiting to be unloaded. It can take 8,000 trucks to haul the cargo away from a single ship, which then normally go to a warehouse waiting for another truck to haul components to the final destination. Normally a shipment can be booked with a couple days’ notice but currently containers are booking 30 days in advance.
I love facts and figures but what these mean to all of us is a significant disruption in our national supply chain. The US is already seeing steel prices pop 25%, wood prices increase by 20% and polypropylene also increasing 25%.
As an American manufacturer, PS Furniture has the ability to turn our raw materials into finished goods and ship them to their destinations in less time than it takes most of the container ships to be docked and emptied. PS Furniture has survived the pandemic and we stand ready with component parts and materials for finished products in all our product categories.
America is beginning to reopen; we at PS Furniture are poised to help you get your customers the goods they need to service their customers.
Call us now for immediate quotes. We look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Roger Clark
Executive Vice President
PS Furniture
