When you have a contract in hand to make a part for a client and outsource it to China to be made there, largely due to labor shortage, and then are hit with a 25 percent tariff to bring the completed part back here, that will mess with your bottom line. That, essentially, was the message co-partners Justin Spillers and Doug Larger of Mark One Manufacturing in Minster had to share with Ohio’s 4th District U.S. Congressman Jim Jordan in their meeting with him at their facility Friday afternoon.
Mark One is a Minster manufacturing company that produces engineered metal and plastic tools and production parts both domestically and internationally. Mark One manufactures parts in dozens of countries around the globe, with China being its largest supplier.
The tariff, imposed after a $1 million dollar contract had already been gained, puts the local manufacturer in a tough position to make a profit. Added to the quandary is the fact that tariff exceptions have changed over the past six months, according to Spillers, who said, “The main issue we have with the tariff is the very quick timing of the tariff and how there is no grace period for programs that already started prior to the tariffs even being discussed. For example, Mark One has a number of large jobs that are either finished or close to being finished in China. These jobs were started, and the purchase orders accepted by our suppliers more than six months ago before the tariffs were even discussed and were not factored in to the costs of Mark One’s quotes. The 25% tariffs will wipe out most of the profit that can be made on these large jobs since the tariff is applied to any product that lands in the United States after the tariff’s effective date regardless of when the programs were started. The tariffs were proposed and made...
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