Image Credit: Cell Phone Seat / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
While many have been antagonistic toward President Trump’s tariff plans, especially in his refusal to capitulate to global powers like China, a small business owner in Franklin, Tennessee is sharing how these tariffs are helping to save his business and why he believes they are the key to restoring the American free market.
Scott McIntosh and his family own a business selling an American-made product called the Cell Phone Seat, a cupholder phone mount that went viral on TikTok and now sells nationwide. After losing hundreds of sales each day to cheap Chinese knockoffs on Amazon and foreign companies, Scott believes Trump-led tariffs are leveling the playing field and giving his U.S.-based manufacturing a fighting chance.
When first starting the business around 2020, Scott, the Inventor and President of Cell Phone Seat, began manufacturing in China after obtaining his design patents, but after experiencing quality and shipping issues quickly pivoted to American manufacturing, jumping through hoops to ensure their plastic materials met all safety standards to be considered non-toxic and recyclable. Their product is made just outside of Detroit, stored in a family-run warehouse, and shipped by them.
The Tennessee Conservative spoke to Scott who explained that thanks to tariffs, they’ve not only reclaimed their business but grown it, proving that tariff policy can directly benefit small U.S. manufacturers.
“In my opinion, this whole issue with the tariffs, it’s not about Democrats or Republicans, it’s about America getting sold out. Now that I’m so vetted on Amazon trying to sell my product, I’ve been on the front-line battlefield for years now. Amazon and Walmart.com are two of our largest marketplaces and they are wide-open floodgates for cheap Chinese counterfeiters. Both platforms, I think, have put profits over patriotism, making it effortless for Chinese sellers to undercut American businesses with products that rip off our patents and copy our hard work,” Scott stated.
“Meanwhile, other marketplaces controlled by Chinese companies, like Temu and Ali Expres, are even more blatant. They openly sell counterfeit versions of my patented product, and when we report it, refuse to take them down. They don’t respect U.S. law, they don’t respect American business, and frankly they don’t have to, we’re letting it happen. Chinese companies aren’t beating us because they’re better, they’re beating us because they’re propped up by Chinese government subsidies, buyback programs, cheap labor, and basically allowed to cheat on our own soil with the backing of the biggest online platforms in America.”
How has the lack of accountability for these countries and companies directly affected your company?
Scott divulged three primary ways his company is harmed by these unregulated knockoffs, which he estimates have cost Cell Phone Seat over $200,000 per year:
1. China makes a similar product to sell but does so at a significantly reduced price as they can sell it for less than the manufacturing cost because of government subsidies.
2. They blatantly knock off his products, despite design patents, and even sell under his brand name, stealing copyrighted company videos and pictures for marketing. Internet searches for his product show ads from Walmart, Amazon, and foreign companies, which leads to the consumer buying an inferior product made with cheap materials and results in the real Cell Phone Seat being hit with poor reviews and feedback.
3. Legal claims to get knock offs and fakes taken down are often denied, leaving counterfeit products available on the market. Scott estimates the company spends upwards of $100,000 per year in legal fees attempting to get these fakes removed, spending hours daily to find these dupes and submitting patent violations.
How would you explain the benefits of tariffs to those who may not fully understand what they are or why they’re helpful?
“I saw an immediate effect- my sales doubled in April almost right away.” He believes that because prices for the Chinese products increased his product became more competitive. He also thinks more people are becoming aware of these issues and are specifically looking for American-made products.
He continued, “Tariffs are one of the few things that have pushed back. And I’m just so grateful for somebody finally in my corner forcing Chinese products to face real costs. I don’t fear the competition, I just don’t like a system that lets people cheat and win consistently. Tariffs have leveled the playing field. They’ve made it harder for the Chinese-subsided products to undercut American-made goods solely on price, they gave companies like mine the chance to survive, even thrive, without having to move our operations overseas.”
What advice would you give to other small businesses who may be struggling or doubting the effectiveness of the tariff plan?
“Tariffs are a temporary cost to fix a permanent problem. Without them, we’re not in a free market, we’re in a rigged market where Chinese companies drown American businesses with below-cost goods. So, the few extra cents we might pay at the register are really an investment in protecting American jobs, protecting our innovation, and protecting our strength. You can’t build a great nation by making everything cheap and foreign. We need to look at patriotism over profits and convenience,” Scott maintained.
“There are going to be some businesses struggling because of supply chain issues, they need products coming out of those countries. But I think in the long run, some of those products are going to move to United States manufacturers, which is the end goal. I think it’s going to make it a lot easier in the future because it’s not easy to ship stuff from China, especially with the regulations that can change anytime based on who’s in office. Every company should be looking at moving their manufacturing, production, and supply chain to America.”
“Tariffs are going to give made-in-America products a fighting chance, noting more, nothing less. Tariffs didn’t break the system, it’s already broken, they’re trying to fix a rigged game. If we can’t defend American innovation, then we don’t deserve to call ourselves the Land of Opportunity,” he concluded.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
“…because of government subsidies.”
They aren’t all on the China side either. The TNGOP gave corporate welfare to China’s distributor Amazon. So they could collect all those internet sales taxes. Then Haslam, Corker and Alexander go lobby for nationwide, intrastate internet sales taxes regardless of a business’ physical location, (unconstitutional, as these are imports from another state and are only subject to tariff as required for the actual, physical inspections of the import – none of which happens). Then they have their new welfare queen Amazon send out letters to Tennesseans reminding them of the purchases made prior to their corporate welfare deal suggesting “you may owe TN use tax for these purchases” retroactively. I can count on one hand how many Amazon purchases I’ve made since then – 14-15 years. No “prime”, no “audible”, zilch, unless I absolutely cannot find it somewhere else. In the case of audio books, I just never buy them. No sale. Meanwhile, the TNGOP has doubled their spending. Amazon/WMT/HD/Lowes are the Chinese junk purveyors (who were amazingly allowed to stay open in the “deadly” coronahoax) and I am sick of their cheap chinese garbage. You don’t get what you don’t pay for. Ebay is another major market where the counterfeits flourish with deceptive ads, using legit make/model numbers and Ebay won’t take action on their accounts. Especially in power tools.