Purchasing authentic objects that can only come from a particular place is another way of shopping local - even in a global context. As enormous tariffs are placed on goods from artistic communities around the world - the US should consider it an act of goodwill to exempt such goods from tariffs because they don't compete with US products due to their provenance and intangible cultural value.
Another Way to Think About Shopping Local, Thoughts on Tariffs and Cultural Goods
The headlines are real these days. Tariffs are one subject I've been thinking about. What people aren’t talking about when it comes to tariffs are cultural goods - objects that can only come from a specific place. This is, in many ways, “shopping local” even if discovered in a global context.
Champagne immediately comes to mind (I’m biased, my husband is French). This is a good that is more than a drink - its living culture. Like the diamond is associated with love and weddings, champagne is associated with celebration and joy. This is a cultural export where farmers and winemakers are revered for their skill and craft. You can only get champagne from France and only from Champagne within France. I am currently working on summer grammar homework with my 6 year old daughter and this is a perfect example of a noun that is both common and proper. An exquisite example of both grammar, and, provenance. Now, circling back to the point: tariffs.
What about cultural goods? Should there be a lower tariff (or none at all) on items like art that can only be sourced from one place or group of people? I’m talking about products that can’t quite be copied because of their makers and material.
A noun is by definition a person, a place, or a thing. ARTICLE22 jewelry is very much all of those things combined - as if the positive transformation of the material personifies the resourceful and determined spirit of its makers and the majestic hills and craggy karst mountains from which it derives.
Anyone anywhere can make a bracelet adorned with PEACE, LOVE, and HOPE, but in the 1970s, our partners in Naphia village invented the method of melting shrapnel and other scrap aluminum into spoons out of the alchemy of their human spirit will, optimism, and entrepreneurial sense. Our pieces are not mass produced and far from trite.
The bracelets were our brainchild and travel the globe as archaeological artifacts of living culture that make meaningful difference contributing to MAG (Mines Advisory Group) to clear some of the 80 million UXO contaminating their land.
No tariffs - on cultural products like ARTICLE22's Peacebomb jewelry - would show goodwill and offer a way to support free enterprise in a developing country that doesn't often reach a global market. Alas, we now confront 40% tariffs on imports from Laos and we are still figuring out how to handle the increase. Thank you for being here with us. Our collective action uplifts.
#loveisthebomb
A noun is by definition a person, a place, or a thing. ARTICLE22 jewelry is very much all of those things combined - as if the positive transformation of the material personifies the resourceful and determined spirit of its makers and the majestic hills and craggy karst mountains from which it derives.