A Chinese fireworks maker is going all in on the US despite tariffs

Mint

2 days ago

Adam Dai has made it his job to know what Americans want to see on the Fourth of July.
His business, Miracle Fireworks, specializes in patriotic pyrotechnics sold at roadside stalls in the U.S. Among them: Liberty Shells, which shoot up in the air in red, white and blue colors; Maximum Machine Gun, with reloadable, hand-held rotating barrels that fire up to 388 shots; and All Trumped Up, a President Trump-themed item that sends 95 blasts into the sky.
Stacy Schneitter Blake says that Adam Dai is eager to learn U.S. tastes in fireworks.
But nothing prepared Dai for the U.S.-China trade war, which temporarily pushed U.S. tariffs on Chinese fireworks to more than 140% in April and sent the industry into a tailspin. Amid the chaos, some shipments never got made. That pushed prices up for some products and forced some public-show organizers to spend more, said Stacy Schneitter Blake, the president of the National Fireworks Association, though in the end many shipments went through after tariffs came down to under 40%.
The problem now is 2026, when the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary of independence—and demand for fireworks will likely soar.
Fireworks manufacturers require long lead times to design and produce what will be needed. But many fear tariffs will go higher again, potentially making it a money-loser to keep supplying the U.S.
Worried that 2026 celebrations could turn into a dud, the two leading fireworks trade groups in the U.S. are heading to Washington later this month to lobby officials to keep tariffs low.
Producers such as Dai, meanwhile, are trying to figure out whether to go all in for America's big event—or pare back and wait until the smoke clears.
'The two big countries will need to negotiate and find solutions peacefully. Nobody will win in a trade war," Dai said. 'U.S.A. needs China, China needs U.S.A."
The U.S. is almost completely reliant on China for its fireworks, with some 99% of its imported consumer supplies and 75% of its fireworks for shows coming from China, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association and the NFA.
By the 1980s, most U.S. fireworks makers were out of business because of rising labor costs, stringent safety regulations and increased competition from Chinese imports, the NFA said.
Liuyang, where Miracle Fireworks is based, accounts for roughly 60% of China's fireworks and firecracker exports. According to Chinese legend, fireworks were invented here about 1,400 years ago by a man who used them to ward off evil spirits.
Today, there are roughly 400 factories on the city's outskirts. During the day, the sounds of factories testing fireworks echo through the area. Workers still put pieces together by hand, using tape to connect components.
A worker in Liuyang, China, packages a Miracle Fireworks product.
Dai joined the industry by chance. He wanted to become a policeman, but poor eyesight disqualified him, so he went to work for a major fireworks exporter.
As a young salesman, he didn't know much about the U.S., which he had never visited. To improve his English, he would read his customers' emails out loud and memorize them, and adopt phrases that impressed him.
Around 2010 or so, he started making U.S. trips to visit buyers. He says he often went to Olive Garden to learn about American food.
By 2013, he was ready to start his own fireworks company.
Schneitter Fireworks counts on Miracle Fireworks for a variety of pyrotechnic products, including All Trumped Up.
The company—whose slogans include 'more bang for your buck"—developed unabashedly pro-American products featuring stars and stripes, eagles, and NFL and NBA themes. To stay on top of U.S. trends, Dai says he closely monitors sports events such as the Super Bowl and World Series. He watched 'Top Gun" three or four times.
The company also noticed that Trump-themed fireworks—which it says are popular with both Trump supporters and opponents—have tended to sell better than items with Obama and Biden themes.
Schneitter Blake, who is co-owner of Schneitter Fireworks & Importing in St. Joseph, Mo., has been buying from Miracle for several years and has been impressed by Dai's flexibility and eagerness to read the American consumer.
A few years ago, Miracle was planning a firecracker that sprayed vivid colors, which Dai planned to call 'Fantastic Glitters." When Dai spoke with Schneitter Blake and had her watch a demonstration video, she suggested 'All That Glitters." Miracle went with the suggestion.
Miracle now exports around 500 shipping containers of fireworks a year to the U.S. About 90% of its business is with the U.S.
New shipments were still arriving at Schneitter Fireworks ahead of the Fourth of July.Stacy Schneitter Blake assists a shopper.
When U.S. tariffs on made-in-China goods hit 145% in April, most of Miracle's American customers asked it to halt shipments. Some asked for price cuts, but Miracle refused. The company doesn't have much room to reduce pricing with its profit margins ranging between 5% and 13%, Dai said.
After the U.S. and China reached a 90-day trade truce to bring down tariffs in May, Miracle shipped some 80 containers to the U.S. Still, some customers decided to hold off on deliveries. As a result, Miracle is storing enough products to fill about 30 containers, translating into about $1.2 million in unreceived payments, Dai said.
For next year, not only are higher tariffs a possibility, but also Trump is calling for production of goods to be brought back to the U.S. Fireworks executives in both the U.S. and China say that would be extremely difficult.
'America's lack of key raw materials, high labor costs, and strict regulatory environment make fireworks production in the U.S. impossible," the North Carolina-based APA and Indiana-based NFA said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in March. 'Rather than reshoring jobs, tariffs will only drive up costs for American businesses, local governments, and consumers," said the groups, both of which are heading to Washington soon.
Dai says he is inclined to take his chances for 2026, given his faith in U.S. buyers. In August, he will travel to the U.S. to meet with customers. He is planning 15 new patriotic products, the most in Miracle's history, including fireworks that have a total of 250 shots, to mark the 250th anniversary, and a special offering called Trump Dome, inspired by the Golden Dome, a new U.S. missile defense system under discussion.
Dai says he hasn't given up on a goal to have all 50 U.S. states carry the Miracle brand fireworks in stores. So far, he is at 37.
U.S. stores that sell fireworks buy almost all of them from China.
Xiao Xiao contributed to this article.
Write to Yoko Kubota at [e-mail]