Comment from MU Holdings, Inc. d/b/a Marble Uniques

My name is Jeff Keck, and I am the President of MU Holdings, Inc., doing business as Marble Uniques, a fabricator of quartz and natural stone products located in Tipton, Indiana. I respectfully submit this statement in strong opposition to the imposition of tariffs or quotas on full-slab Quartz Surface Products ("QSP slabs"). In my view, the domestic fabricator segment is a critical part of the broader industry, and trade restrictions on imported QSP slabs would significantly harm domestic fabricators, increase costs, and disrupt supply for businesses like ours. Our company fabricates both imported and domestically manufactured QSP slabs into custom countertops, and we also produce countertops for large multifamily and apartment projects. In our experience, supply constraints arise frequently—and almost always with domestically produced slabs. Domestic production is not sufficient to meet overall market demand. As a result, tariffs or quotas on imported slabs would increase material costs, reduce supply flexibility, and force price increases that would likely shift customers to alternative surface products. That demand destruction would have serious consequences for our business, including reduced revenue, operational strain, and potential job losses. We have made significant investments in equipment and operations to support our business. If demand is reduced because quartz countertops become materially more expensive, our ability to sustain those investments will be threatened. That risk is especially serious for a company like ours, which employs 28 people in a county with a population of approximately 15,000. The Commission should also recognize that tariffs or quotas would cause immediate supply-chain disruption. Those disruptions, combined with higher input costs, would intensify financial pressure on fabricators because there is no practical alternative other than passing added costs on to the end customer. If consumer demand for quartz countertops declines, fabricators will purchase fewer materials, tools, and related supplies from other domestic businesses, creating additional downstream harm. We are currently considering the purchase of new equipment from domestic manufacturers, but tariffs or quotas on slabs would likely cause us to postpone or cancel those investments. I expect many similarly situated fabricators would make the same decision, which would further weaken demand for U.S.-made equipment and contribute to additional job losses. We dispute the premise that imports of full slabs are the primary source of injury. In our view, a more significant competitive issue is the importation of prefabricated, finished countertops—often referred to as "cut-to-size" products. In the large apartment-project segment, we have found that we cannot compete with these imports because the finished product can be delivered to job sites at prices only slightly above what we pay for raw slabs, whether those slabs are domestic or imported. These imports effectively bypass local fabrication costs entirely and place domestic fabricators at a severe disadvantage. If trade relief is considered, it should focus on cut-to-size imports rather than full slabs. Targeted relief on cut-to-size products would help domestic fabricators compete for apartment and multifamily projects, which in turn would support demand for full slabs supplied by domestic manufacturers. Eight years ago, our company’s sales mix was approximately 70 percent natural stone and 30 percent QSP. In 2026, those percentages have reversed. If the price of quartz countertops is driven upward through tariffs or quotas, the market is likely to shift back toward alternative products such as natural stone or laminate. That shift would likely increase imports of natural stone, because many of the granite and quartzite materials preferred by customers are not available domestically in the quantities or varieties the market demands. In that scenario, domestic quartz manufacturers could suffer greater long-term harm from substitution than they currently face from full-slab imports. For these reasons, I respectfully urge the Commission to avoid imposing tariffs or quotas on full-slab QSP imports and to consider the disproportionate harm such measures would inflict on domestic fabricators, employees, consumers, and related domestic suppliers. If the Commission determines that trade relief is warranted, it should carefully distinguish between full slabs and cut-to-size finished products and tailor any remedy accordingly.