- Thread Author
- #1
Mary Buchzeiger is CEO of Auburn Hills-based Lucerne International Inc.
"I am a business owner, a proud Republican, and a voter who supports President Donald Trump's campaign to level U.S. trade imbalances.I am also angry, frustrated and a little scared, because the unintended consequences of the president's $50 billion tariffs on China would cripple my business in Auburn Hills and strip my 50 employees of their good-paying jobs."
~snip~
"My company, Lucerne International, makes cast, stamped and forged components and assemblies for the automotive and heavy truck industries. Our largest contract is for the Jeep Wrangler. As one of the world's only companies producing Class-A forgings, we make the door, hood, windshield and tailgate hinges that sit outside Wranglers like polished jewels."
"We're damn proud of this work."
"It starts overseas — we have seven plants in Asia, where the hinges are manufactured. They are shipped to the Lucerne plant outside Detroit, inspected, repackaged and sent to another auto supplier for assembly before being shipped to Toledo for installation on the vehicle.
"That's a supply chain: Thousands of American jobs."
"Billions of American dollars."
"And it's all in danger."
"For some strange and destructive reasons, the proposed Trump tariffs include an obscure provision calling for a 25 percent tax on "iron or steel, aluminum, or zinc hinges and base metal parts … designed for motor vehicles."
"Those are our hinges. As far as I know, no other company falls under this provision buried in a $50 billion list of products. For every $2,000 in duties proposed by the U.S., $1 directly impacts Lucerne.For the life of me, I can't figure out why my certified woman-owned company in the heart of Trump country is being targeted. Beijing will pass that tax onto me. My customers — other U.S. auto suppliers and U.S. auto companies — will not absorb the cost, nor will U.S. auto buyers. It's a tax on my Michigan company and my Michigan employees, and we can't absorb it."
"Ninety-percent of our more than $40 million in revenue is tied to products that fall under the new tariff provision. Unless the president grants an exclusion, Lucerne will fold."
"I'm angry and scared."
"Scared that my president is about to make a terrible mistake"
"Scared for my employees, who love their jobs, who make good money, and who get their college tuitions paid."
"Scared for my community and my country, which is about to be blindsided by a bad policy forged of best intentions."
"On the big picture, the president is right: U.S. trade deficit needs to be tamed. But, please, not this way — and not when Lucerne is poised to grow to $50 million in revenue next year and expand its Michigan workforce by 25 percent."
"Grant us an exclusion, Mr. President. Give us time to finish our work and bring manufacturing back to Michigan."
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/artic...y-presidents-tariffs-would-cripple-my-company
Well..I seem to recall the candidate Trump speaking about doing just that in the summer of '16, so maybe she should have paid more closer attention to what would directly affect her business.
A 25% increase in employment of 50 is only 12.5 more employees. And regardless of what the employment numbers are, if she really pays "good wages" as well as their college tuition, I would guess that finding a few more willing workers shouldn't be as difficult as she claims.
Her business is predicated upon exploiting the peasant labor of another country in China, as does Trump and his daughter Ivanka's knockoff toggery.
I think that she is exaggerating a bit, but as far as giving her business an exclusive mulligan, that is extremely unlikely. Her business is also the beneficiary of the TC & JA, although I feel that it should have been modified and sliding-scaled, based upon the percentage of US-based employees and/or profits derived from off-shoring and outsourcing.
She had a FB presence, but apparently she wasn't keen on the posts that were being made on it, after this article was published, and shut it down a couple hours ago...lolz.
"I am a business owner, a proud Republican, and a voter who supports President Donald Trump's campaign to level U.S. trade imbalances.I am also angry, frustrated and a little scared, because the unintended consequences of the president's $50 billion tariffs on China would cripple my business in Auburn Hills and strip my 50 employees of their good-paying jobs."
~snip~
"My company, Lucerne International, makes cast, stamped and forged components and assemblies for the automotive and heavy truck industries. Our largest contract is for the Jeep Wrangler. As one of the world's only companies producing Class-A forgings, we make the door, hood, windshield and tailgate hinges that sit outside Wranglers like polished jewels."
"We're damn proud of this work."
"It starts overseas — we have seven plants in Asia, where the hinges are manufactured. They are shipped to the Lucerne plant outside Detroit, inspected, repackaged and sent to another auto supplier for assembly before being shipped to Toledo for installation on the vehicle.
"That's a supply chain: Thousands of American jobs."
"Billions of American dollars."
"And it's all in danger."
"For some strange and destructive reasons, the proposed Trump tariffs include an obscure provision calling for a 25 percent tax on "iron or steel, aluminum, or zinc hinges and base metal parts … designed for motor vehicles."
"Those are our hinges. As far as I know, no other company falls under this provision buried in a $50 billion list of products. For every $2,000 in duties proposed by the U.S., $1 directly impacts Lucerne.For the life of me, I can't figure out why my certified woman-owned company in the heart of Trump country is being targeted. Beijing will pass that tax onto me. My customers — other U.S. auto suppliers and U.S. auto companies — will not absorb the cost, nor will U.S. auto buyers. It's a tax on my Michigan company and my Michigan employees, and we can't absorb it."
"Ninety-percent of our more than $40 million in revenue is tied to products that fall under the new tariff provision. Unless the president grants an exclusion, Lucerne will fold."
"I'm angry and scared."
"Scared that my president is about to make a terrible mistake"
"Scared for my employees, who love their jobs, who make good money, and who get their college tuitions paid."
"Scared for my community and my country, which is about to be blindsided by a bad policy forged of best intentions."
"On the big picture, the president is right: U.S. trade deficit needs to be tamed. But, please, not this way — and not when Lucerne is poised to grow to $50 million in revenue next year and expand its Michigan workforce by 25 percent."
"Grant us an exclusion, Mr. President. Give us time to finish our work and bring manufacturing back to Michigan."
https://www.crainsdetroit.com/artic...y-presidents-tariffs-would-cripple-my-company
Well..I seem to recall the candidate Trump speaking about doing just that in the summer of '16, so maybe she should have paid more closer attention to what would directly affect her business.
A 25% increase in employment of 50 is only 12.5 more employees. And regardless of what the employment numbers are, if she really pays "good wages" as well as their college tuition, I would guess that finding a few more willing workers shouldn't be as difficult as she claims.
Her business is predicated upon exploiting the peasant labor of another country in China, as does Trump and his daughter Ivanka's knockoff toggery.
I think that she is exaggerating a bit, but as far as giving her business an exclusive mulligan, that is extremely unlikely. Her business is also the beneficiary of the TC & JA, although I feel that it should have been modified and sliding-scaled, based upon the percentage of US-based employees and/or profits derived from off-shoring and outsourcing.
She had a FB presence, but apparently she wasn't keen on the posts that were being made on it, after this article was published, and shut it down a couple hours ago...lolz.
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