TR Photo by Lana Bradstream – David Adland, owner of Adland Engraving & Screen Print Co., holds one of the trophies that are updating with a new name plate. Adland sculptures face the effects of trade wars as a result of tariffs.
David Adland uses two types of aluminum sheets Adland Engraving & Screen Print Co. for orders. The business is looking at the opportunity in the wake of the 25% tariff imposed on all aluminum imports, buying 5-10 sheets at a time.
Tariffs dominate the hearts of the people of the United States as a 10% tariff was placed on all imports on April 5th, known as the “liberation date.” President Donald Trump ordered high tariffs on imports from 57 countries, and was supposed to start on April 9th. However, except for imports from China, he was suspended for 90 days.
The April 5 tariffs, as well as previous tariffs placed in Canada and Mexico, led to an ongoing trade war in which many countries placed or threatened retaliatory charges on US exports. Part of the retaliation includes Canada’s $20 billion tariffs on US goods. China has also revoked import licenses for three major soybean exports, from 10 to 15% of agricultural exports such as chicken and soybeans. The European Union threatened tariffs on 400 US products, including toilet paper and clothing.
Some Marshalltown residents may think that tariffs are primarily a concern for businesses and metropolitan cities, but this impact continues for businesses here too.
One of those businesses said David Adland, owner of Adland Engraving & Screen Print Co., fortunately, their revenue streams are diverse enough to withstand some of the forecasted economic recession. However, he added that he is concerned about how the schools, businesses, organizations they have business with, and tariffs and other factors will affect their purchasing habits.
“Most of our inventory is just in time, so we try to avoid supplying huge amounts of supplies,” Adland said. “We have a supplier a day away and UPS does an amazing job of getting items from us overnight.”
Another community business affected is Marshalltown. President/CEO Joe Carter said he feels that both in exports and imports.
“Importing is where we see the biggest impact right now,” he said.
According to Carter, Marshalltown’s heaviest hit category is price range or entry level products from China, particularly along with products with critical aluminum or steel content, with almost immediate effectiveness of tariffs and limited ability to plan responses.
Marshalltown isn’t just feeling the aluminum hit. The 25% tariff applied to all aluminum imports in March also affects Adland’s sculpture. Adland said he would buy a sheet of aluminum to do their business.
Fortunately, the supplier has notified Adland of possible increases. Every time that happens, he contacts various accounts to get ideas about what their needs are.
“We tried to keep prices down through all of this, but we’re keeping an eye on the opportunities that could be there,” Adland said. “Our government is based on a system of checks and balance and we are pleased that Senator Grassley is leading a bipartisan effort to hold back the administrative division and represent the people of Iowa.”
On April 3, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced S1272, the 2025 Trade Review Act. This gives the legislature the authority to approve tariffs. The bill has been introduced to the Finance Committee.
“There appears to be uncertainty in the near future regarding tariffs,” Adland said. “I am pleased that Senator Grassley and others have been creating plans to speak out on all sorts of tariffs, like passing Covid again, we don’t know what will happen.
That uncertainty is the only specific aspect of the tariff situation, he added. Adland wants the clients they have in their business to make clear and concise purchasing decisions. As things progressed, he said he would continue to try and keep the pricing and only order exactly what he needed.
“Being in an agricultural nation, we are concerned about how market availability and supply issues will affect our ability to do business,” Adland said. “After all, we are in the trickle-down economy in many ways. If farmers aren’t happy, we aren’t. We praise Senator Grassley and others. We praise the adoption of initiatives in the enforcement department when it comes to issuing tariffs. We have survived the ups and downs of the market, Covid, and the rising online competition, and we hope we can overcome this.”
The tariff situation is not new, but it is not as extensive and has reached a large number of imports. Marshalltown dealt with the 2018 tariffs, but not so much. Carter said he is in favor of the direction the US is heading and the short-term challenges associated with those decisions if the president’s stated purpose to create more production within the country is the ultimate result.
“It’s impossible to know if this is the right way to affect these changes, but we’ll analyze the information and make good decisions regarding the path to advance for Marshalltown. In the end, it’ll be fine,” he said. Given that we are a major US manufacturer, we see more advantages than our weaknesses so far. Given our major leverage of key domestically produced ingredients, Marshalltown has survived many crises over the past 135 years. Two world wars, the Great Recession, the Great Recession, and most recently COVID-19 – and in our incredible environments, strength, resilience, intense work. different. “
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TR Photo by Lana Bradstream – David Adland, owner of Adland Engraving & Screen Print Co., holds one of the trophies that are updating with a new name plate. Adland sculptures face the effects of trade wars as a result of tariffs.
David Adland uses two types of aluminum sheets Adland Engraving & Screen Print Co. for orders. The business is looking at the opportunity in the wake of the 25% tariff imposed on all aluminum imports, buying 5-10 sheets at a time.
641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.
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