MINSTER — Ohio 4th Congressional District’s Rep. Jim Jordan came to Minster Friday to hear about concerns over how high tariffs on Chinese products have affected the bottom line of smaller companies like Mark One, a tool and die manufacturing firm in the village.

Doug Larger, owner of Mark One, invited Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, 4th District, to tour his facility and discuss how the Trump administration would handle issues the tariff had caused now and in the future.

Jordan said that he knows the tariff issue is important to this region.

“Of the 435 districts in the nation, the 30 districts that lead in manufacturing and agriculture are in Ohio,” he said. He went on to say that Trump would prefer no tariffs, but he wants a better trade deal for the United States.

Larger said one key to understanding how the tariff has hurt the bottom line for Mark One and other manufacturing firms is to know the differences between making tools and then using the tools to make parts.

As an example, Larger explained that the company currently has a $1 million contract to create a part. The Mark One shop created the tool to be used to create the part. The tool was sent to their company in Shenzhen, China, where the part was manufactured.

Since the implementation of tariffs came after the order for part was made, he said his company did not have enough time to work the 25 percent tariff into its quote, and he said, “We don’t have a high enough margin to make a profit.”

Justin Spillers, Mark One’s attorney, said that complicating the picture is that exceptions to the tariff have changed over the last six months. A corporate lawyer who just began with Mark One at the start of 2018, Spillers said he had to become proficient in international trade law very quickly.

Spiller said they have seen two different interpretations of the codes. Jordan told Larger and others there that he would be in contact with Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to try to get them some answers to their concerns.

“We are not against the tariffs,” said Spillers. “We just need more time to adjust to the changes.”

Larger and Spillers both said they did not know if these tariffs were a permanent condition or a bargaining tool in Trump’s overall plan.

Larger said that if the tariffs are permanent, a lot of international relationships will have to be rebuilt to fill the world demand.

“American manufacturers can only fill 20 percent of the demand for tool and die products, making it necessary to find manufacturers outside of the United States,” he said. He said the largest obstacle to more manufacturing in the United States is the shortage of labor.

Jordan’s district is located in the northwestern portion of the state and includes Allen, Auglaize, Champaign, Crawford, Logan, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby and Union counties along with areas of Erie, Huron, Lorain, Marion, and Mercer counties.