In an opinion piece written for InsideSources and published in DC Journal on July 2,…
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How Tariff Relief Can Strengthen the America First Agenda
In an opinion piece written for InsideSources and published in DC Journal on July 2, Nathan Frampton, CEO of Fanimation, outlined how the current tariff situation is hurting small and family-owned businesses like those in the residential lighting industry.
“Fanimation Ceiling Fans was founded by my father in our garage in 1984. Over four decades, we have grown into an 80-person company with headquarters in Zionsville, Indiana, and offices in North Carolina and Dallas. We are proud of our American story, but we are still a small business navigating a global supply chain in an increasingly unforgiving and uncertain policy environment,” Frampton wrote.
“Today, companies like ours are being squeezed by tariffs we had no voice in crafting. These tariffs currently apply to components and finished products that simply cannot be sourced domestically. Ceiling fans are complex products involving motors, lighting, electronics, and precise engineering. Ninety-five percent of residential ceiling fans sold in the United States are manufactured in China, with the rest coming from allied nations in Southeast Asia. And yet, our category and U.S. lighting have been excluded from recent tariff exemptions.”
While Frampton noted that he fully supports efforts to bolster American manufacturing, he urges government officials to adopt a “smart, targeted trade policy.”
“These blanket tariffs are not protecting us, they are putting us at risk. For example, our products are now subject to a 30% tariff on ceiling fans and a 55% tariff on lighting components. These are staggering rates for any small business to endure…rebuilding supply chains takes years and hundreds of millions of dollars, not to mention a domestic manufacturing labor force that does not yet exist for products like ours. For small and mid-sized businesses, there is no way to absorb that kind of cost without cutting jobs, raising prices, or shrinking operations. Many may not survive at all.”
Frampton supports the solution proposed in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s recent letter, which calls for delaying tariff increases and creating immediate, clear exclusions for small businesses that import goods not made in the United States.
“Continuing this pause and establishing new trade deals would let businesses like ours preserve jobs, avoid price hikes for American consumers, and continue the long-term work of reshoring and diversifying our supply chains. And they would strengthen, not weaken, President Trump’s broader goals of American economic security.”
Without immediate tariff relief, the pressures we face could hollow out precisely the kind of companies policymakers say they want to protect. It will not be the global giants that disappear, it will be the small businesses built in American garages, and the workers and communities that rely on them.
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