Some large companies urge Biden to end China mold tariffs

Following a full-throated campaign by the mold making sector to keep 25-percent tariffs on Chinese-made injection molds, some manufacturers are now pushing the federal government in the opposite direction.

A few larger manufacturing companies, including power tool maker Stanley Black & Decker Inc. and powersports vehicle maker Polaris Inc., are telling President Biden he should rescind tariffs on molds first imposed in 2018 by President Trump.

The back-and-forth comes after dozens of mold making firms sent in comments in recent months to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai urging her to keep tariffs, arguing that they've helped protect jobs and investment in their sector.

Tai is in the middle of a legally mandated review of $50 billion worth of imports in the first round of 2018 China tariffs.

Some are arguing that the tariffs are, on balance, hurting U.S. manufacturing. Stanley Black & Decker and other major manufacturers told Tai that the mold tariffs are making their U.S. factories less competitive because they raise the price of manufacturing inputs.

"SBD is the only U.S. manufacturer that produces hand and power tools at scale in the United States," the company said. "However, the United States simply lacks the capacity to produce every part and component used as an input for U.S.-manufactured products.

"SBD and other U.S. manufacturers thus import lower-value inputs for complex products like power tools, which ensures that SBD can continue producing finished goods at scale in the United States," it said.

One smaller manufacturing company echoed that message in its formal filing to the USTR.

Pittsburgh-based Blazer Brand L.L.C., which makes durable plastic straps to secure trash and recycling cans, said tariffs on molds make it harder for small businesses to make "smart, low-risk" capital investments to grow.

"Anecdotally, we've used a mixture of Chinese-made and American-made molds for seven years," said Justin Blazer, head of product development and operations. "As of Q3 2022, for injection-type molds, China-made molds still have faster lead times and prices lower than domestic molds even after adding the 25 percent tariff and shipping."

"With regard to innovation, small businesses need access to smart, low-risk capital investments," he said. "To date, we have not come across a U.S. maker of injection-type molds who has sought to demonstrate how they are innovating to make their offerings justify the (less-than) 30 percent added cost of domestic molds."

Medina, Minn.-based Polaris, which makes snowmobiles and other powersports equipment, said imported molds help its 12 U.S. manufacturing plants stay competitive against overseas competitors that do not have tariffs on their imported Chinese inputs like molds.

"The additional tariffs on this line item, and other similar components we import to support our domestic manufacturing operations, have increased our material costs and thereby significantly benefited our foreign competitors who import and sell completed vehicles manufactured abroad," the company said. "These tariffs significantly disadvantage U.S. manufacturing."

Polaris said it was able to get some product-specific exemptions on molds under USTR rules, but it still said the overall business impact was negative. It urged USTR to "solidify that exclusion policy and permanently exempt" molds.

The company, which wants USTR to remove tariffs on 15 other Chinese products besides molds, said the cost of tooling and other tariffs have been too high to justify any limited gains on the larger policy goals the government has—changing Chinese trade policies around intellectual property protection and technology transfer.

"The tariffs only compounded the supply chain challenges that have multiplied over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributed to historically high inflation, and harmed the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers like Polaris," the company said.

The mold tariffs have been controversial since they first started.

In late 2018, just six months after putting them in place, the Trump administration unexpectedly lifted the 25 percent duties, after 200 mold-buying companies flooded USTR with requests to be exempted.

But after the mold making sector organized in 2019 and pushed back, the federal government put the tariffs back in place, where they have remained. Companies have been able to seek individual exemptions to tariffs.

Now, at least judging by public comments to USTR, the mold tariffs may be less controversial. The vast majority of the 50 mold-related comments to USTR are in favor of keeping them.

The American Mold Builders Association, which urged its members to write the government, told Tai's office that the 25 percent tariff has helped the competitiveness of the mostly smaller companies in the mold industry.

"Members of the AMBA report a direct connection between the initiation of the tariff action and improved business conditions in this segment of the manufacturing supply chain," said Kym Conis, AMBA managing director. "In a December 2022 survey of our members, over 67 percent of respondents state that they have taken on new business from China after a customer sought to have a product manufactured in the U.S. due to the 25 percent tariffs on Chinese imports."

As well, it said that 63 percent of mold builders in the survey said suspending the tariffs would lead to job cuts or hiring freezes.

Conis said AMBA believes it will take USTR several months to make decisions on the many tariff categories it’s reviewing.

“While we do not have expectations, USTR has now received more than 200 comments from U.S. mold builders the past several years calling on them to keep the tariffs on molds and die,” she said. “We hope that USTR has heard the message and recognizes the American mold builders can meet current and future demand.”

The AMBA’s Washington-based lobbyist also said the industry comments are a “solid data point” for USTR to consider.

“The overwhelming show of support in 2019 and today for the tariffs, I think, is a solid data point,” said Omar Nashashibi, with The Franklin Partnership.

Sean Connole, president of injection molder and mold making firm Port Erie Plastics Inc. in Harborcreek, Pa., told USTR that removing the tariffs would lead to capital flowing to China from the U.S. mold making industry.

"The tariffs on plastic injection molds… from China helps to level the playing field in regard to manufacturing molds," Connole said. "In the United States we build higher quality molds while adhering to stricter regulatory standards. At Port Erie Plastics we take the safety of our employees and environment seriously."