UPDATE | Zoldan meets with White House on fireworks tariffs talk

YOUNGSTOWN — After meeting with Donald Trump, Phantom Fireworks CEO Bruce Zoldan said he’s hopeful the president will remove fireworks from the list of goods made in China that could face a 25-percent tariff.

But Trump didn’t make a commitment, Zoldan said.

Zoldan told The Vindicator that he, along with a small group of business executives, met with the president last Wednesday to discuss the impact the tariffs would have. While at the White House, Zoldan said he also met with “high-level officials” in the Trump administration about the issue.

The meetings came at the request of the White House, Zoldan said.

Unlike other goods that are also made in the United States, fireworks are almost exclusively made in China so there are no options to purchase them domestically, Zoldan said.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com

8:37 a.m.

Phantoms Fireworks CEO Bruce Zoldan was among industry leaders featured in a Washington Post story about the impact of President Trump's looming tariffs on the fireworks season.

“It’s virtually impossible for our product to be made anywhere else but in China,” said Bruce Zoldan, the chief executive of Phantom Fireworks in Youngstown, Ohio. “If these tariffs happen, it’ll be the greatest threat to our industry.”

The full Washington Post story is here.

Talks on fireworks as part of the tariffs will continue in June with a decision coming later in June.

Zoldan met with White House officials last week about the issue. He was an early U.S. businessman to meet with Trump after he was elected in 2016.