Tariffs on imports of colored gemstones and pearls are top of mind for leadership at the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA). Specifically, AGTA aims to eliminate the tariffs that would affect its 1,100 US-based members, most of which are small family-owned operations, including wholesalers and importers of natural colored gemstones.
Immediately after the tariffs were announced, AGTA retained the firm of Hecht, Latham, Spencer & Associates in Washington, DC, as its trade representative to combat both the baseline 10% duty and the country-specific reciprocal tariffs. AGTA’s representatives are in contact with members of the Trump administration and Congress.
In the first week of May, AGTA CEO John W. Ford, Sr., and AGTA board president Bruce Bridges, who is also president of Bridges Tsavorite, traveled to Washington to meet with key lawmakers. Among them were Senator Ted Cruz and House of Representatives members Randy Weber, Ronny Jackson, Andy Barr, David R. Rouzer, Mike Simpson and Mike Bost. Bridges and Ford, along with Tim Hecht and Franklin Phifer from Hecht, Latham, Spencer & Associates, outlined the negative impacts of the tariffs on AGTA’s membership.
Since AGTA members import loose gemstones into the US both for domestic consumption and for export to Europe and other worldwide markets, the recently announced tariffs directly impact members’ ability to do business, and put AGTA at a competitive disadvantage to foreign dealers, the group stressed. Lawmakers were surprised to learn that in 2024, AGTA members imported $2.44 billion worth of loose gemstones — which they sold to retail jewelers and wholesale manufacturers — while also exporting loose gemstones worth a total of $3.44 billion.
Ford pointed out that the loose-colored-gemstone industry in the US is and has been a net exporter vis-à-vis other industries. He went on to clarify that while the administration’s intent was to bring manufacturing and investment back to the US and boost exports, the tariffs would have the opposite effect in the case of the loose-gemstone industry.
The loose gemstones AGTA members import are not geologically present stateside and thus are not available for members to use in jewelry manufacturing or for export, Bridges explained to lawmakers.
Hecht and Phifer emphasized that the tariffs would give foreign gem suppliers a significant competitive advantage over US-based ones. In addition, they noted, the temporary pause to allow bilateral negotiations on country-specific reciprocal tariffs has created tremendous uncertainty for the industry, as AGTA sources goods from a variety of countries that would be subject to high reciprocal tariffs.
The two trade representatives reiterated AGTA’s commitment to creating and maintaining American jobs, adding that AGTA needed the lawmakers’ help to continue producing a desirable product for the US consuming public and for export.
Bridges and Ford reported positive responses from Cruz and Weber, as well as the other representatives with whom they met.
“Our meetings were very productive and followed weeks of detailed work by AGTA’s trade representatives,” Bridges and Ford said in a joint statement. “We are now cautiously optimistic about resolving the tariff issues affecting AGTA’s membership.”
Main image: From left, AGTA board president Bruce Bridges of Bridges Tsavorite, US Senator Ted Cruz, and AGTA CEO John W. Ford, Sr. (American Gem Trade Association)
