Marienberg, Germany – President of the United States Donald Trump’s The tariffs threaten to become a hard nut of breaking into an unlikely place: a small company whose factory snuggled in the hills of East Germany produces carefully handmade by hand that US collectors take over the US collectors.
Together with classical food, such as a variety of holy, Scrooge and the MAD Hatter, specifically the collectibles of American themes and related to events are a basic element in Steinbach Volkskunst. There is Uncle Sam, the statue of Liberty, Mickey Mouse and a tribute with the theme of Coronation to King Carlos III of Great Britain among many others.
This week, a limited editing creation entitled “Descolorado de Decuelo del President”, with a Trump sitting figure that signs a “presidential proclamation”, is taking shape at the Steinbach factory on the edge of the small city of Marienberg, near the Czech border.
A Nutcracker generally takes about a week to produce, since their wooden pieces turn, paint, dry, assemble and, in many cases, are seen with a disguise. In this case, the president’s blonde hair is combed and a picture of hair lacquer is given as a final touch. The price is exceeding $ 300, quite typical for nuts on a smaller scale of the company.
For a company that exports more than 95% of its products and sells more than 90% of what it does in the United States, Trump rates They are a significant potential headache. Initially, the United States imposed a 20% rate of the assets of the European Union – In which Germany, better known by industries such as car manufacturing, has the largest economy. But the administration suspended that for 90 days while leaving a 10% basal rate instead.
Before the announcement, “we could think of several scenarios and think about what would happen or not, but I think, ultimately, everyone cooled in some way,” says the owner and manager Rico Paul. “But it’s the same for everyone … So we all have to face.”
Steinbach, with about 35 manufacturing employees and five office in office, produces 30,000-40,000 items per year and, according to Paul, could sell many more than that. He says that the company is lucky enough to have many long -standing wholesale clients who made their orders in January so that they are delivered Nutcracker throughout the year to Christmas, reducing immediate concerns.
“There are still no direct effects for us,” says Paul. “No client has canceled his order, but we will see next year if prices have become too expensive and there is less demand.”
The manager says that Steinbach is considering whether to establish a logistics installation in the USA and use people there to send in goods and offer corporate customers their products from the interior of the country, so that they do not have to deal with tariffs.
There are limits for what the company can change. The crafts of the Mountains of Erzgebirge, or of Mineral, around Marienberg is an institution in itself and last month was added to a list examined by a German subcommittee of the United Nations Cultural Organization, UNESCO, as an “example of good practices of conservation of immaterial cultural heritage.”
“This is a product ‘made in Germany’ and that is also important for the collector,” says Paul. “That means we will never relocate production.”
The approach to the US market is also deeply integrated into the company’s history and dates back to almost 80 years. The Steinbach family had to give up its factory in what became communist oriental Germany after World War II and began near Hanover, in the West. The Nutcrackers became a popular memory for US troops parked in Germany, and the family chief Christian Steinbach made a concerted effort to build the US market.
The company returned to Erzgebirge after Germany met in 1990. It fell into difficult times after Christian Steinbach died in 2008 and the financial crisis hit. Paul took over and revived the firm after he declared himself in bankruptcy a decade ago, and is counting on the United States even now.
“We are very positive because we have accumulated these relations with customers for decades, we deliver reliably and we have more demand than we can produce every year,” he says, adds that the company “will maintain faith with the United States.”
During last year’s election campaign, Steinbach produced limited edit Kamala Harris. The Republican was exhausted; The Democrat was not completely.
The company has added an ironic plea for clemency tariff to the president’s desk in his latest creation.
The proclamation that is signed by the “Mr. President” is the “recognition of the Steinbach Nutcrackers as an essential cultural heritage”
“Therefore, I declare that Steinbach Volkskunst’s administration is an essential infrastructure asset of the United States,” he says. “From the immediately, all Steinbach’s nutcrackers will be exempt from all rates and taxes, for life.”
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David Keyton contributed to this report.
