Tariffs dim fireworks at celebrations

As cities across the United States marked the nation's 250th birthday, the celebrations might have looked different this year, with rising costs casting a shadow over the longstanding tradition of the Independence Day fireworks display.

Across the country, local officials and fireworks companies say that tariffs on Chinese-made fireworks, coupled with higher labor and equipment costs and unusually heavy demand tied to the semiquincentennial, have driven up the price of Fourth of July shows. The resulting cancellations and cutbacks have dimmed what was meant to be a landmark national celebration.

In Hinesburg, Vermont, a fireworks tradition dating back to the 1976 bicentennial would not continue this year. Town officials canceled the annual show after concluding the cost had grown too high, as the town's fireworks provider recently required a minimum payment of $20,000 to stage a display, more than the town had budgeted.

Such displays have grown so expensive in Vermont that some towns are now seeking donations from residents to help fund shows for the country's 250th birthday, according to the local newspaper Seven Days. In Bristol, after a fireworks-funding drive fell short, the town was forced to scale back some of the live performances planned for its Independence Day celebration and drop the cash prizes for a competition.

In Missouri, rising costs, attributed in part to tariffs, have upended plans in several cities, local television station First Alert 4 reported. The city of Ferguson canceled its annual July 4 fireworks show for the first time in decades after tariff-driven price increases roughly doubled its pyrotechnics bill to about $40,000. Local fireworks stands have reported feeling the same financial squeeze.

Elsewhere in the state, St Louis County has canceled a major regional fireworks show after determining it lacked the funds for the event this year. The city of Kirkwood, meanwhile, leaned heavily on private donors to close a budget gap created by a sharp rise in fireworks prices linked to tariffs, which added $9,500 to the cost of this year's July 4 show, according to St Louis Magazine.

Fireworks vendors and trade groups say the pricing pressure traces directly to the US tariffs on China, which is the major supplier of fireworks to the US market.

Major disruptions

The US government imposed a 145-percent tariff on Chinese fireworks in early April 2025. The rate was lowered to 30 percent a month later. But the rapid succession of hikes and reversals caused major disruptions for US distributors, who plan and order their inventory many months in advance.

The National Fireworks Association said on its tariff information page that its members have faced multiple and fluctuating tariff layers over the past year, with combined duty rates exceeding 30 percent in many cases.

US fireworks companies rely almost entirely on China, which produces more than 99 percent of consumer fireworks and about 90 percent of professional display fireworks, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, or APA. Even at the reduced 30-percent rate, the association said the cost remains unmanageable for most operators in the industry.

The trade policy uncertainty itself proved disruptive, the APA said, as manufacturers were forced to halt production and shipments. Fireworks are a seasonal and heavily regulated product for which there is no viable domestic manufacturing alternative at scale, the association said.

The industry points to a shortage of key raw materials, high labor costs and other structural obstacles. Environmental regulations, steep insurance costs and a lack of skilled pyrotechnicians make producing fireworks in the United States effectively impossible.

Even as costs climb, the US' 250th "fireworks party" is colliding with drought, heat and burn bans. Many areas are operating under restrictions imposed because of weather conditions and wildfire and environmental concerns.

In California, Fourth of July fireworks shows have been steadily disappearing, driven by litigation from environmental advocates and opposition from the state Coastal Commission, and are increasingly being replaced by drone displays.

The dispute also has taken on a partisan edge. In California, fireworks have become something of a political flashpoint, with right-wing influencers publicly criticizing the anti-fireworks camp, according to the Los Angeles Times.