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Vermont stainless‑bottle maker says tariffs have doubled import costs, threatens cash flow
Summary
Ravi Ringer, co‑owner of Richmond maker Bivou, told a joint legislative hearing that recent U.S. tariffs and retaliatory measures have sharply raised duty bills and created immediate cash‑flow strain; he urged state support for short‑term lending, grants and bonded‑warehouse options.
Ravi Ringer, co‑owner of Bivou in Richmond, told a joint hearing of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee and the Senate Economic, General and Housing Committee on April 9 that recent tariff actions have dramatically increased his company’s cost of goods and put near‑term survival at risk.
Ringer said Bivou, which employs eight people and makes a stainless steel water bottle designed to fit in tube bike cages, sources virtually all of its product from a single province in China. “We are the first designers, developers of a stainless steel bottle that fits in tube bike cages,” he said. He added that “95% of the world's stainless steel bottles…are made in 1 province in China.”
The company is facing higher duty bills…
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