BALTIMORE, Md. — "Made in USA."
It's a label that's pretty rare, and that's all the more reason why James Evans is proud to display it on his products.
“That’s definitely a huge part of our company and our brand and we make sure everybody knows it," he told WMAR-2 News.
It was a risky business move back in 2008 when he started Sikky Manufacturing in Baltimore.
"Even back then, it was still way more expensive than outsourcing, and some of my competitors that make the same products that we make - watching them sell an inferior product for a lot less and losing sales, it's definitely frustrating," Evans said.
But he's hoping it's finally about to pay off.
The White House announced a 10% tariff on all imports and higher reciprocal tariffs on almost every country Wednesday, with the goal of shifting manufacturing back to the U.S.
"So it'll be great for us in 6 months to a year probably," Evans said, "because the Chinese knockoffs and stuff like that have always been a problem for as long as I've been in this industry."
But even a company like Sikky - that produces its car parts here, and only sources domestic raw materials - isn't immune to the tariffs. Some of his suppliers are already raising metal prices, anticipating the increased demand.
Evans says it's a temporary pain, but he's playing the long game.
Baltimore manufacturer hopes business will pay off with new tariffs
"I think in 3, 4 years, it should set us up and other people that are manufacturing here in America for success. So I mean, yeah, I'm fine with dealing with some headaches for the next 6 months to a year and hopefully things go the way I think they're gonna go and then we'll be good, but maybe not. Only time will tell."
Dori Blitzstein, vice president at Roesel-Heck Company, a wholesale flooring distributor in Baltimore, uses suppliers from all over the globe, so her company is preparing to take a hit. Right now, she says the toughest part is quoting big jobs that might not land for well over a year.
"I'm about to quote a job that's about 200,000 square feet and I'm actually going to be calling about 3 or 4 different suppliers and see what tariffs they're gonna be adding to their costs because nobody has given me new costs yet. But I know that's coming any day."
She predicts that more customers are going to seek out American made products, and more manufacturers are preparing for that.
"The overseas products that were made in China, a lot of the manufacturers were moving their products over to Vietnam where they felt like it was a safe space and they weren't going to be hit by tariffs, and now they are," Blitzstein told WMAR-2 News. "I've had a lot of suppliers who have been contacting me really in the last 6 to 8 weeks with American made products asking if we wanted to do business together and I didn't really start to consider it until maybe the last 3 weeks and I started saying to myself, maybe we need to start looking at that.
The 10% tariffs go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on April 5. The reciprocal tariffs go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on April 9.