Concerns rising over effects of tariffs on niche items

Cecily White’s English laced bobbin pillow she says is essentially impossible to purchase domestically.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- For some passions, the lengths to gather those supplies can be time and cost consuming.

Things are getting more complicated for those in the bobbin lace fiber arms community.

An English laced bobbin pillow is one of Cecily White’s most treasured possessions.

It represents her passion for bobbin laced fiber arts.

Bobbin lace fiber arts has its origins centuries ago in 16th century Italy as a way to make lace for women.

White said, “It’s an old fiber art. It actually came from old embroidery and old weaving.”

However, American colonists did not bring this with them when they emigrated across the ocean.

White said, “The people who could afford handmade lace in that time period were not people who came to America, and by the time it could have really gained a large foothold here, we had the Industrial Revolution.”

She says that she got into the hobby with a friend.

Her materials mostly come from Spain and Italy because there are not a lot of domestic manufacturers.

With President Trump’s tariffs of 15 percent on these countries, she says her costs to continue this are skyrocketing.

White said, “I was looking on Etsy and I could find these for $200-$300, but I was looking at the shipping costs and because of the tariffs and the fact that no one wants to ship to the U.S., we’re looking at $4,000-$5,000 in shipping alone…It would become almost financially impossible in the long term.”

She is urging representatives to make a tariff exception for these rare items, as she says she has reached out to her Congressional representatives and the White House.

White said, “Put exclusions on things. I don’t think you need to be exclusionary of everything, obviously I’m not a supporter of fast fashion as someone who supports fiber arts, but put exclusions on things, especially things that we can’t source here. I cannot source English-style pillows or Swedish-style bobbin lace pillows in America at all.”

She says she’d buy domestic if she could, but hopes that leaders take into account these kinds of situations.

White said, “There are some things I just can’t get here. You have to take that into account when you make laws like this and implement laws like this.”