QMAA Members Testify Before USTR, Call for Strong Safeguard Trade Relief to Save 100,000 American Manufacturing Jobs

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the Quartz Manufacturing Alliance of America (QMAA) today testified before the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to advocate for strong trade relief following the U.S. International Trade Commission's (ITC) recommendation to the President in QMAA's Global Safeguard case. In their testimony, QMAA members urged the Trump Administration to build on the ITC's strong recommendation and address the import surge by adding a tariff of 50% and a quota of 141 million square feet on imported quartz surface products. Importantly, the ITC's investigation flatly rejected numerous respondents' claims that imposing a tariff on U.S. imports "will contribute to 'housing affordability' concerns in the United States."

"We have reduced our workforce, cut costs wherever possible, and taken every step we can to survive. But we are still losing money, and cannot continue like this," said Daniel Vaz De Melo Sa, Business Development Manager of Guidoni USA. "That is why the recommendation USTR makes to the President is so important. From our perspective, the remedy must include a strong tariff—specifically, a tariff at the level of 50%—and a hard quota that creates real discipline in the U.S. market."

"The QMAA strongly supports free and fair trade," said Luke Meisner, QMAA Legal Counsel. "We are simply asking the Administration to use these critical trade enforcement tools to ensure a level playing field for American manufacturers and fabricators."

"As a fabricator, we have done everything we can to become more efficient and compete with imports," remarked Darlene Brown, founder of Busch Products. "But if strong safeguard relief is not granted, we know we will experience continued erosion of our sales and we will slowly go out of business."

"With the potential of receiving strong safeguard protection, additional job creation at our manufacturing plant in Dickson, Tennessee is very likely," remarked Matt Kahny, President of Dal-Tile. "But that is only possible if we receive relief strong enough to restore a level playing field and predictable market conditions for quartz slab producers."

"Even though we expanded capacity to meet growing demand, our production has fallen by nearly 40% since 2021, and we have had to reduce operating shifts across all our production lines," said Mike Morici, Vice President of Surfaces at LX Hausys. "We respectfully request strong and effective relief, including both a 50% tariff and a properly structured quota of 141 million square feet."

"Free and fair trade is a must. As imports surged, we were forced to reduce production from a seven-day schedule to five days per week, and our capacity utilization has declined as a result," remarked Andrew Eich, President and Chief Operating Officer of Cambria Company. "Cambria is ready to continue investing, ready to hire, ready to innovate, and ready to further expand our American quartz manufacturing. But those decisions require fair trade and the relief that gives us confidence the U.S. market will not remain flooded by illegally traded imports that violate existing U.S. trade law. The volumes and artificial, subsidized pricing prevent domestic producers from operating at competitive levels."

The domestic quartz industry supports 100,000 American jobs. While domestic demand for quartz surfacing has grown by 62% within the past five years, domestic production has declined by 17.2% due to this import surge, with quartz slab imports increasing by 78.3% between 2020-2024. In rejecting claims that imposing a tariff on imported quartz surface products will materially increase the cost of building a home, the ITC found that the cost of imported quartz makes up only 0.07% of the average cost of a new home.

About the Quartz Manufacturing Alliance for America:

QMAA is a coalition of U.S.-based, American quartz slab manufacturing factories, united with other industry leaders to support and strengthen the American quartz industry. QMAA is committed to ensuring a free and fair, competitive marketplace born of free enterprise that provides the opportunity to compete on a level playing field for American quartz slab manufacturing factories and their valued workers. We also believe this effort will have a positive impact throughout the entire quartz surfacing industry, including to the strong benefit of American stone fabrication shops and upstream suppliers of quartz minerals and resin. Learn more at: https://www.qmaa.org/

SOURCE Quartz Manufacturing Alliance of America