From Friday night displays at Great American Ball Park to Fourth of July parties and community festivals, fireworks are a staple of summertime festivities. The night skies might be a little less colorful 鈥� and certainly more quiet 鈥� this summer as the cost of fireworks, ahem, skyrockets.
The Trump administration's on goods from China stands at 145%, and some fireworks factories in China have begun shutting down. High costs and low supply mean even more costs for Americans, including companies like Rozzi's Famous Fireworks in Cincinnati.
"Plus there's also 鈥� most people don't remember 鈥� there's already a 5% duty. Then there's the overseas freight, which is on top of all of that," says Joe Rozzi, vice president of Rozzi's Famous Fireworks. "A container of professional display fireworks, it's going to add about $200,000-plus onto that container."
The good news for Rozzi's customers is that the company bought most of its inventory for this summer in December and January. It only has a couple of containers on the water headed to the United States. That means, for this summer at least, Rozzi's won't see much change.
"Other people in the industry aren't so lucky. I've heard a number of stories where they're either canceling orders or the overseas supplier is just not shipping," Rozzi says.
Next summer could be another story. Rozzi says the company should be placing its orders now for the 2026 season. Right now, they're holding off to see what happens, but one can only hold out for so long.
Next year is important for another reason 鈥� it's the USA's semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary. Yearlong celebrations are being planned across the country.
The National Fireworks Association (NFA) and the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA) from "these burdensome tariffs" and are asking the public to advocate on their behalf.
"We鈥檝e got a huge problem ahead of us going into next year," Stacy Blake, president of NFA, . "This season is when Chinese manufacturers would be manufacturing our products right now for 2026, for the 250th. Very little production is happening. They have halted it."
Why not just make fireworks in the U.S.?
Rozzi says there are several reasons why it's not feasible to make fireworks in the U.S. For starters, making fireworks is extremely dangerous. There's also no infrastructure for making fireworks here, nor the expertise and necessary chemicals, he says.
"The chemicals have to be sourced from overseas. They just don't occur here. They never did. It's one of those things where it just can't happen to the level that's happening today. There's no labor. There's insufficient labor. You know, there's no way we could even compete with the capacity coming out of China. We never could. We couldn't do it back in the '70s and '80s, and I just don't see that starting back up again," Rozzi says.
He tells WVXU there is some desire to make fireworks locally, but the level of danger is very concerning, and it would take decades to get to the necessary capacity levels. Plus, as he points out, you'd still have to import some of the necessary materials.
"It would cost an enormous amount of money to build a factory today that would be in compliance with working with hazardous materials like fireworks," he adds. "Fireworks aren't like commercial explosives. They're inherently sensitive by nature, so there's a lot more extra precaution and care that has to be taken. To build a factory? I couldn't even fathom the amount of money it would cost to do it."
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