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I operate a small Judaica business. Trump’s tariffs are going to squelch Jewish innovation.

3 17
10.04.2025

Ten years ago I wrote an article about how America’s Judaica manufacturers now largely operate out of China. The items that aren’t made there are usually created in Israel. Only a few items, like customized skullcaps, are still manufactured in America.

In the past decade, my interest in the subject has shifted from journalistic to corporate. I have a side hustle running a publishing company that gets its books from either China or Israel, and I also sell dreidels produced in both Hong Kong and the mainland.

Because of this, the tariffs just enacted are likely to affect me directly — and because they affect me, they affect my customers. I want to give you a window into how I expect the tariffs will affect my business if they are not removed.

Let’s start with wedding bentshers. Many Jewish couples give out customized miniature prayerbooks called bentshers at their weddings as party favors. These books need to be cheap because they’re purchased in bulk, which means that production costs make up a much larger percentage of the........

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