ExclusiveTexas Hat Maker Supports Trump's Tariffs, Stocks up on Materials

Cowboy hat making company, Master Hatters of Texas, had a master plan well before President Donald Trump announced global tariffs. Jerry Cook is the owner of the Garland, Texas-based hat maker. We felt like that Trump was going to win the election and so what we did is that we started buying extra material from different places because none of our raw material comes from the United States. These bags on this first shelf up here, they all came from mainland China. So we felt like, well, if he puts this big tariff on all of these countries, we'll have raw material that we can work all the way to next October. And then that would put us in a position actually to be better than our competitors. Cook sees Trump's tariffs as a long-term benefit and, in the meantime, ups production costs for his competition. They're buying product made in Mexico or China or wherever it's made at and it's totally made and it's very inexpensive and it's what we call a costume hat. It's not the quality of what we're going to make. So if their prices go up, our prices are going to stay the same. We're making a better quality and getting better service. Master Hatters of Texas, which makes cowboy hats for several prominent retailers and custom shops, has over 50 employees and produces dozens of hats each day. Cook says he's aligned with Trump's America First agenda and sees tariffs as a solid negotiating tool for the president. We have a hard time with other countries shipping into Canada or shipping into Mexico because we have tariffs that they put on our product that cost our ultimate consumer more in that country. If he negotiates a better deal for us, maybe that'll mean that we'll be able to sell more product in a foreign country. This week, the Trump administration signaled it was open to reducing sweeping tariffs on China. The Wall Street Journal, citing a White House official, said the tariffs on China could come down from their current level of 145% to between 50% and 65%.