Mackeys Ferry Sawmill shuttered operations in July after President Trump's tariffs did exactly what economists said tariffs would do, stunning absolutely no one except the people who voted for those tariffs.
Wilson Jones, whose family has operated sawmills since 1882, laid off all 50 employees at Washington County's largest private employer after Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs escalated to 150% on Chinese goods. China retaliated with 120% tariffs on American hardwood, a consequence that trade experts had warned about but which apparently came as a complete surprise to people who enthusiastically supported protective trade barriers.
"We exported 80% of our product to Asia," Jones told reporters, describing a business model that was clearly incompatible with starting a trade war with Asia. "We're getting hit going and coming."
The mill, which had adapted to furniture manufacturing moving overseas by selling premium hardwood to Chinese factories, found itself unable to compete after the president delivered on his campaign promise to Make Tariffs Great Again. Jones had approximately $350,000 worth of lumber already on ships to China when the tariffs hit, freight that couldn't be returned because reverse shipping costs were eight times higher.
Witnesses report Jones asking Trump to visit the shuttered facility and "take a real look at the situation," a request unlikely to be fulfilled given the president's busy schedule of not looking at situations.
"They were guys who worked hard, paid their taxes, and did all that stuff," Jones said of his now-former employees, most of whom had worked at the mill for over a decade and who will surely appreciate learning that their decade of loyalty was classified under "all that stuff."
The closure marks the end of a 40-year legacy, though sources confirm the legacy is being preserved in the form of an excellent cautionary tale about voting for policies that specifically hurt your industry.
Economic analysts note that a sixth-generation lumber family probably should have seen this coming, given that Generation One through Five all managed to operate during periods when America maintained relatively stable trade relationships with its largest export markets.
