For three
generations, the Dungey family has
owned and operated Auburn
Leathercrafters in the beautiful
Finger Lakes Region of New York
State. Auburn Leathercrafters has
been producing Handmade Dog Collars
and Leashes for pet stores
throughout the Northeast since 1950
and, with the advent of the
internet, expanded their sales
territory nation-wide – even
world-wide via www.AuburnDirect.com
(wholesale side) and
www.collarsandmore.com
(retail side). The family's
six-person shop has staved off
competition from cheaper foreign
labor by offering a range of
products, from affordable "Sparky's
Choice" leashes to a $100 Brass
Pyramid Studded Collar known as the
"Gatsby."
One day in the spring of 2006, the
company president, Anita Dungey,
happened across a few words on a
Website, leading her to a startling
discovery: One of the equalizing
factors she has had the benefit of
over the Imports was about to
disappear, thanks to a
little-publicized proposal in the
Senate. The plan, it turned out,
had been promoted by Wal-Mart Stores
Inc. Anita had stumbled upon a
largely unknown Congressional
Apparatus that allows companies to
Erase Tariffs -- taxes levied on
products and materials shipped to
the United States from overseas --
for years at a time. Each
legislative season, corporate
executives and lobbyists quietly
draft hundreds of bills to suspend
tariffs. Over time, the changes
cost taxpayers hundreds of millions
of dollars in Lost Revenue! Most of
the Tariff Suspensions involve
obscure chemicals and dyes and
components of other products, but
many, more recognizable products
show up as well, including Boilers
for Nuclear Reactors, Green Peanuts,
Child Potty Seats, Unicycles, and
Chocolate Coatings for Laxatives.
What Anita had found was a
Dog-Collar Tariff Proposal that was
introduced by
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D),
who represents Wal-Mart's home state
of Arkansas. Since 2003, Wal-Mart's
political committee has contributed
$9,000 to Lincoln's campaigns. To
date, No Government Agency has
calculated the overall Economic
Impact of the tariff suspensions.
Although, most corporations
acknowledge keeping some or most of
the savings, but many say consumers
also benefit. "Any ability we have
to eliminate a 1 to 3 percent tariff
and save a couple pennies for our
consumers, we think is important,"
said Wal-Mart lobbyist Angela
Marshall Hofmann, who previously
helped oversee the process as an
aide for the Senate Finance
Committee. Hofmann has written to
lawmakers that Wal-Mart supports 41
current Tariff-Suspension bills but
that "it is our understanding that
these products are not manufactured
in Any Commercially Viable Manner in
the United States”.
According to the US Government’s own
rules, any time a tariff suspension
if proposed, the International Trade
Commission (ITC), is required to
perform due diligence by researching
viable US companies interested in
manufacturing the product(s) in
question. What this means is that an
official of the ITC should contact
as many interested parties as
possible before sending his/her
recommendation to the Ways and Means
Committee. (A copy of this report
may be viewed at
www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/other/rel_doc/bill_reports/documents/s-2710.pdf
) Interestingly enough, at the time
Ms. Dungey spoke with the ITC
representative regarding her
position – a few days before the
report was due to the Ways and Means
Committee, most of the companies
listed in the report had not been
directly contacted. Additionally,
according to Dungey’s own research,
there are many additional
domestic producers of dog collars,
harnesses, muzzles and/or leashes
that aren’t even listed as one of
the companies involved. The
conclusion that she – and others –
have drawn: Even though a press
release was given to a trade
organization (via a government
watch-dog group, nonetheless), many,
many US dog collar manufacturers and
their domestic suppliers were never
contacted about the proposed
suspension. (Ms. Dungey’s letter to
the ITC is included in the above
link.)
Anita Dungey, who co-owns Auburn
Leathercrafters in Upstate New York,
launched a one-woman campaign
against four bills that would cut
the 2.4 percent Tariff on Imported
Dog Collars and Leashes. Anita
argued that anyone familiar with the
industry would realize Domestic
Producers would find the waivers
"devastating." Auburn
Leathercrafters believes that
Wal-Mart and other big importers
count on U.S.-based manufacturers
never learning about the Obscure
Legislation. "A lot of people just
don't have the time to devote to
staying on top of it," Anita said.
Wal-Mart officials said their only
motivation is to save consumers
money. While the Dog-Collar Bills
would cost Taxpayers more than $9
million in lost tariff revenues over
the next three years, the company
stressed that all importers would
share the benefits.
The bills' legislative sponsor, Sen.
Blanche Lincoln, said in a statement
that she was pleased that the Senate
process had allowed Dungey to raise
objections. In response, Lincoln
said, the measures have been removed
from consideration. Anita Dungey
said no one had told her the tariff
suspension was dead. Had she not
stumbled across the mention on a
Website and spent days on research,
she is convinced the cut in tariffs
would have passed without opposition
-- and led to the end of her
company. "The suspension is . . .
just about long enough to put most
of the small guys out of business,"
Anita said. "I would have just
shaken my head and said, “How can
Wal-Mart sell for this price?"
In
addition to the elimination of the
tariff suspensions from the Omnibus
Tariff Bill, and major outcome of
the lobbying effort was Ethics
Reform. Passage of this bill meant
that, according to the Washington
Post, “legislators would be required
to disclose when they add a tariff
suspension to a larger bill.
Senators would have to justify the
tax break in writing and name the
company that would benefit. The
information would have to be posted
in a searchable form on the Internet
at least two days before Congress
votes on the measure.” To date, Ms.
Dungey has not been able to find the
location of this “highly searchable”
link on the web. If anyone is able
to find it, she requests that you
please let her know and urges each
and every citizen concerned about
the future of US manufacturing, to
keep track of the status of proposed
tariff suspensions.
Since 1950, the Dungey family has owned and operated
Auburn Leathercrafters. We are a
manufacturer of Quality Dog
Products, including Dog Collars,
Leashes and Harnesses and other
Custom Strap Goods. We are Very
Proud of our Handcrafted Products,
made from the Finest Top Grain
Leathers and other Quality
Materials. We use only the best so
that our customers receive only the
best. best.
At Auburn Leathercrafters our
mission is to provide our customers
with the best possible service and
the best quality products. We stand
behind every product we make, from
our affordable Town Collar and
Sparky’s Choice Lines to our
Extraordinary Maxwell and Madison
Collections. All of our Leather Pet
Products are finished with Hand
Beveled and Polished Edges and many
of our collar lines are offered in
sizes ranging from 8” through 34” to
meet the many and diverse needs of
our customer base. Our loyal and
highly experienced staff of skilled
craftspeople are ready to assist you
with your pets needs.
