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Letter: Tariffs hurt Utah businesses

(Robert F. Bukaty | AP file photo) A worker at the North Sails shop in Freeport, Maine, cuts cotton fabric on Monday, March 23, 2020, for masks to be given to caregivers during the coronavirus outbreak.

We own a digital fabric printing business in Sandy with seven employees on payroll and many others doing contract work. We supply materials to multiple cut-and-sew shops here in Utah. Recently, there has been incredible demand for face mask material. Some of this material is only made overseas.

Did you know that the Trump administration has set the tariff at 35% for fabric? China does not pay this tariff. American businesses pay the tariff. We all pay these tariffs. Tariffs are more taxation, period.

Do we want jobs for Utahns in manufacturing? Or should we continue sourcing everything we use from China while complaining about job loss?

America can't reopen while the administration sabotages material sourcing. I've contacted the Utah senators and representatives on this issue. I urge my fellow Utahns to do the same.

Justin Rammell, Raspberry Creek Fabrics, Sandy

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