Opinion: Why I love tariffs — and why Utah should, too

This Deseret News op-ed was Jeremy Barker writing in his own voice about why tariffs — controversial as they are — have actually been useful for the kind of US manufacturing Murphy Door® does. The piece argues that level competition with overseas hidden-door knockoffs is what makes domestic manufacturing viable at the price points US homeowners expect.

What we'd add to the op-ed: the dollar-impact for a US hidden-door manufacturer isn't theoretical. Sourcing pre-finished wood panels domestically, building flush-mount doors — also known as built-in doors — in West Haven, Utah, and supporting a national install network requires that we compete with cheap import lookalikes on quality rather than price. Tariff policy is one variable that determines whether that math works.

The wider context is that Murphy Door® has stayed entirely US-manufactured since 2012 — every gun cabinet and bookcase configuration in the catalog is built domestically. The press hub tracks more of how Utah business has been covered in regional and national media.

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