In light of the current uncertainty in the market regarding the price and availability of quartz, we decided we should reach out with a statement that shares our thoughts and feelings with you.
As many of you already know, there are tariffs set to take effect that will greatly increase the cost of any quartz imported from China. Cambria has argued that the import of Chinese quartz has been unfair for American businesses. Cambria’s president says that he is merely seeking to level the playing field for his company. We feel that rather than leveling the playing field, this will deal a huge blow to the industry as a whole.
In the past, we reached out to Cambria’s headquarters and expressed an interest in fabricating their product. We were told that they already worked with someone else in our area and they weren’t interested in working with us. Luckily we are able to carry a variety of other quartz lines because it seems Cambria isn’t interested in us or our clients. We do our best to accommodate all of our clients, but we fear we will not be able to do so if quartz prices continue to increase.
We are not talking about a small increase in prices. In case you have not already heard, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced on Wednesday the preliminary antidumping (AD) determination on quartz surface products from China. The AD preliminary duty rates are very high, ranging from 242%‑ 342% depending on the supplier. The AD duty will be imposed on quartz surface products from China in addition to (1) the 34.4% countervailing duty (CVD) rate (or higher for certain exporters), and (2) the 10% Section 301 tariff (scheduled to increase to 25% at the end of 2018)—both of these taxes were imposed back in September.
We feel that we have finally reached a point where quartz products have become affordable for the average consumer. With these duty rates, quartz will once again be out of reach for many of our clients. A lot of the quartz that replicates marbles are going to be effected, which is unfortunate because this is the look many of our clients are looking for. Unfortunately many of the other lines do not carry quality marble imitations including Cambria. We strongly feel that Cambria’s insistence on these outrageous tariffs will be harmful not only for us but for our customers. This may be good for Cambria’s bottom line, but the industry as a whole is going to suffer. We do not want to see our clients and our fellow businesses harmed by increasing prices.
The following quartz lines that we carry will be effected: Q-Stone, Daltile, Corian Quartz, Aurea Stone, Zeal, Colorquartz.
The following quartz lines will NOT be effected: Caesarstone, Silestone,
To hear more about it check out this interview with MS International.
https://www.stoneworld.com/articles/90406-tariffs-and-the-fabricator-a-discussion-with-rupesh-shah-of-msi