Cut Stone & Stone Product Manufacturers NAICS 327991

Oct 21, 2025 - Bill Would Limit Silicosis Liability

• Legislation introduced in Congress in September seeks to exempt manufacturers and sellers of stone slabs from liability lawsuits involving silicosis and other unspecified dangers, Stone Update reports. HR 5437, titled “To prohibit civil actions brought against a manufacturer or seller of a stone slab product for harm resulting from the alteration of such a product by a fabricator, and for other purposes,” would specifically stop civil actions against manufacturers and sellers (defined as an importer, distributor, retailer, or supplier) of stone slab products for injuries caused by exposure to respirable silica or other substances arising or relating to the fabrication of such products by third parties,” including fabricators. If enacted, the legislation would prevent any future ‘qualified civil action” from being filed in any federal or state court and also would dismiss any pending lawsuits on the date the bill becomes federal law.
• The 50% tariff on imports from Brazil that took effect August 6 could have "catastrophic results” on the countertop sector in residential construction, Stone World warns. According to the Natural Stone Institute (NSI), the most popular natural stone countertop materials are geologically present only in Brazil and the color and color patterns of domestic substitutes make them unsuitable for residential countertop construction. The lack of domestic alternatives makes Brazilian stones for countertops irreplaceable. Moreover, companies with existing contracts aren’t able to adjust them to account for the increased costs due to the higher tariffs, eroding or erasing their profit margins. According to NSI, more than 500 US stone distributors import stone from Brazil. India and China, other targets of the administration’s tariff wrath, are also major importers of stone to the US.

• Because stone fabricators in the US rely heavily on stone from India, China, Brazil, and Italy, the 10% universal tariff and higher import tariffs on China imposed by the Trump administration are driving up materials costs for most stone companies, LITOSonline.com reports. In other tariff news, the US International Trade Commission voted 3-0 in May that exports of ceramic tile from India (including porcelain) threatened domestic tile makers with “material injury” due to Indian government subsidies. However, the new special tariff rate will be less than 4%, far less than the 400%-800% level sought by The Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile (CFTCT), in its original petition filed with the USITC last year, according to Stone Update. That’s because an investigation by the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration, didn’t agree with the impact level asserted by the CFTCT, finding it to be much lower.
• Producer prices for cut stone and stone product manufacturers rose 2.8% in August compared to a year ago after rising 2% in the previous August-versus-August annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employment by lime, gypsum, and other nonmetallic mineral product manufacturers grew 3.6% year over year in July, while average wages at nonmetallic mineral products manufacturers rose 6.6% YoY in August to a new high of $28.87 per hour, BLS data show. Quarterly sales for nonmetallic mineral products companies rose 8.7% YoY in the second quarter and 30.9% from Q1, according to the Census Bureau. Industry sales are seasonal, peaking in the second and third quarters amid peak demand from the construction industry.