HENRIETTA, N.Y. — The Trump administration’s on-again, off-again tariffs on foreign nations are being touted as a way to attract manufacturers to the United States. Experts say there are opportunities in New York state — but it’s complicated, especially as the goalposts seem to keep moving. 

Business is strong and the work is steady at Fieldtex Products in Henrietta, near Rochester. Interest in the military and medical supply case maker’s products has grown in recent weeks. 

“It's definitely increased, the number of people we're talking to,” said Jon Abbey, president of the company started by his late father, Sanford Abbey.

Fieldtex employs 180 people. In a large building, dozens of workers run sewing machines, stitching together the products the company has been making since the early 1970s. Abbey says much of the recent interest comes from potential suitors who’ve traditionally done business with overseas companies.  

“We’ve seen a big impact from the tariffs,” said Abbey. “It hasn't turned into a lot of orders yet, but based on what's happened over the last couple weeks, we expect people to sort of place either small orders or start the process of getting serious.”

President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are sold as a way to bring manufacturing jobs back to America from countries where products cost less to make, and the people who make them are paid less than here. For business owners in New York state, that’s a challenge. 

“When somebody is making $6 an hour in China and somebody in the U.S. is making $16, $17, $18, three times the labor costs, it eats up pretty quickly," he said. 

Economic development officials in Rochester say they’ve also seen growing interest from foreign manufacturers in potential setting up shop in the U.S. 

“For us, we are very busy,” said Matthew Hurlbutt, president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise. “We see opportunity.”

GRE is a nonprofit working to attract new business and investment to the region. The tariff dynamic is constantly changing — but in all the confusion, Hurlbutt says there is opportunity. 

“We do have, from a business attraction standpoint, opportunities on some foreign direct investment,” he said. “And we're hearing in the marketplace that that is starting to pick up.”

But there are a lot of factors, including who the company is, what they hope to accomplish in the U.S. and what their supply chain needs are in a global market. 

“So there is opportunity there,” said Hurlbutt. “It's just the details and complexity around the components, the equipment, the timing and how quickly you we can have a site or a facility ready.”

“It’s changing things, virtually on an hour-by-hour basis,” said Dennis Braniecki, account executive for Mainfreight, a global freight forwarder, handling international air and ocean transport. 

Braniecki is trying to guide businesses through the confusion, including the supply chains for manufacturers who depend on foreign-produced components and price quotes which can change while they’re in transit — depending on how tariff information changes. 

“I think patience needs to be stressed,” he said. “And it's funny, I use the word stressed not by accident. It's a very stressful situation. A lot of it, we cannot change. I can't change it. You can't change it. Companies can't change it.” 

Braniecki and Mainfreight are holding a seminar on April 23 to discuss with companies the latest information on tariffs, supply chain issues and trade. Meanwhile, Abbey says his business is not significantly impacted, because most of the raw materials Fieldtex uses are American made.

“We haven't run into anything we can't do,” said Abbey. “It’s just a question of, at what point does a tariff tip the scales to the U.S. manufacturing versus the overseas, offshore version.” 

Abbey says he’s encouraged by the additional interest in his company’s products. He’s hopeful the tariffs create more opportunity. As with most things, only time will tell.

“We’re hoping we’ll get some good relationships and good projects out of it,” he said.