Trump's tariffs could be tough to crack for a German nutcracker maker focused on the US

MARIENBERG, Germany (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs threaten to become a tough nut to crack in an unlikely place — a small company whose factory nestled deep in the hills of eastern Germany produces painstakingly hand-crafted nutcrackers that are snapped up by American collectors.

Alongside classic fare such as a variety of Santas, Scrooge and the Mad Hatter, specifically American-themed and event-related collectibles are a staple at Steinbach Volkskunst. There's Uncle Sam, the Statue of Liberty, Mickey Mouse and a coronation-themed tribute to Britain's King Charles III among many others.

This week, a limited-edition creation titled “Resolute Desk of the President,” featuring a seated Trump-like figure signing a “presidential proclamation,” is taking shape at Steinbach's factory on the edge of the small town of Marienberg, near the Czech border.

A nutcracker typically takes around a week to produce as its wooden parts are turned, painted, dried, assembled and in many cases dressed in a costume. In this case, the president's blond mane is combed and given a shot of hairspray as a finishing touch. The price tag is over $300, fairly typical for the more elaborate of the company's smaller-scale nutcrackers.

For a firm that exports more than 95% of its products and sells more than 90% of what it makes in the United States, Trump's tariffs are a significant potential headache. The U.S. initially imposed a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union — in which Germany, better known for industries such as auto manufacturing — has the biggest economy. But the administration suspended that for 90 days while leaving a baseline 10% tariff in place.

Ahead of the announcement, “we were able to think through various scenarios and think about what would happen or not, but I think that ultimately everyone was somehow caught cold,” owner and manager Rico Paul says. “But it's the same for everyone ... so we all have to cope with it.”

Steinbach, with about 35 manufacturing employees and five in office functions, produces 30,000-40,000 items a year and, according to Paul, could sell many more than that. He says the company is lucky to have many longstanding wholesale customers who placed their orders in January for nutcrackers to be delivered throughout the year until Christmas, lessening the immediate concerns.

“There are no direct effects for us yet,” Paul says. “No customer has canceled his order, but we will see next year whether the prices have perhaps become too expensive and there is less demand.”

The manager says Steinbach is considering whether to set up a logistics facility in the U.S. and employ people there to ship in goods and offer corporate customers its products from inside the country, so that they don't have to deal with the tariffs.

There are limits to what the company can change. Craft from the Erzgebirge, or Ore Mountains, around Marienberg is an institution in itself and last month was added to a list vetted by a German sub-committee of the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO, as an “example of good practice of the conservation of immaterial cultural heritage.”

“This is a ‘made in Germany’ product and that is also important to the collector,” Paul says. “That means we will never relocate production.”

The focus on the U.S. market also is deeply embedded in the company's history and goes back nearly 80 years. The Steinbach family had to give up its factory in what became communist East Germany after World War II and started over near Hanover, in the west. The nutcrackers became a popular souvenir for American troops stationed in Germany, and family head Christian Steinbach made a concerted effort to build up the U.S. market.

The company moved back to the Erzgebirge after Germany was reunited in 1990. It fell on hard times after Christian Steinbach died in 2008 and the financial crisis hit. Paul took over and revived the firm after it filed for bankruptcy a decade ago, and he's counting on America even now.

“We're very positive because we have built up these customer relationships over decades, deliver reliably and have more demand than we can produce every year,” he says, adding that the company will “keep faith with America.”

During last year's election campaign, Steinbach produced limited-edition nutcrackers representing Trump and opponent Kamala Harris. The Republican sold out; the Democrat didn't entirely.

The company has added a tongue-in-cheek plea for tariff clemency to the president's desk in its latest creation.

The proclamation being signed by “Mr. President” is headed “Recognition of Steinbach Nutcrackers as Essential Cultural Heritage”

“I hereby declare the nutcrackers of Steinbach Volkskunst to be an essential infrastructure asset of the United States,” it says. “Effective immediately, all Steinbach nutcrackers shall be exempt from all tariffs and taxes — for life.”

David Keyton contributed to this report.

A man walks on the road near the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Rico Paul, manager and owner of the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory, poses for a photograph inside his factory, in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Fabrics for nutcracker costumes are stored on the shelf at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A woman works on nutcrackers of a cowboy at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A man works on a lathe in the carpentry of the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

From right, nutcrackers showing Britain's King Charles III, Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam are displayed at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

An Uncle Sam nutcracker with an American flag, center, stands between other nutcrackers at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Nutcrackers are displayed at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A nutcracker commemorating the coronation of Britain's King Charles III, right, stands alongside other nutcrackers at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The desk of the limited-edition nutcracker titled "Resolute Desk of the President," featuring a seated figure signing a "presidential proclamation," is seen at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A woman combs the hair on a nutcracker titled "Resolute Desk of the President," featuring a seated figure signing a "presidential proclamation," at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A woman fixes a coat on a nutcracker titled "Resolute Desk of the President," featuring a seated figure signing a "presidential proclamation," at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The limited-edition nutcrackers titled "Resolute Desk of the President," featuring a seated figure signing a "presidential proclamation," is seen at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Two limited-edition nutcrackers titled "Resolute Desk of the President," featuring a seated figure signing a "presidential proclamation," are seen on a table at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A woman uses hairspray to fixe the hair on a nutcracker titled "Resolute Desk of the President," featuring a seated figure signing a "presidential proclamation," at the Steinbach-Volkskunst nutcracker factory in Marienberg, Germany, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Right after Sunday worship at St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, Juan Carlos Toapanta lay in a lounge chair set up by the altar, needles sticking out of his forehead, wrist and foot for an hourlong acupuncture session.

“Just like the Lord’s light helps emotionally, the body’s pain is treated as well,” said the Ecuadorian construction worker, who suffers from sciatica and has worshipped at the Minneapolis church for about five months. “Everything feels freed, emotionally.”

Founded by Swedish immigrants in the late 19th century, the church is now a predominantly Latino congregation. Like most other churches in the U.S. that serve migrants, it has expanded its humanitarian, financial, legal and pastoral ministries during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

It has also added monthly well-being sessions — at no charge — with acupuncture, Reiki and cupping therapy to ease the stress that uncertainty and fear have sown among the migrant community — including people in the U.S. illegally and U.S.-born citizens in mixed-status families.

“We have to feel well to respond well, not with panic and fear, which leads to nothing good,” said Lizete Vega, who has spearheaded the well-being efforts as the church’s Latino outreach coordinator. “People here feel that they’re protected and can be cared for spiritually, emotionally and physically.”

Faith leaders have increasingly found themselves called to help their congregations with mental health concerns, from chaplains in the U.S. Navy to pastors in the rural heartland.

Some see the need to provide reassurance and well-being as a growing part of their ministry to migrants, even as revised federal immigration guidelines now provide more leeway for enforcement in or near houses of worship.

“It was as if they were able to exhale a big breath,” the Rev. Hierald Osorto said of the 30 congregants who signed up for the first well-being session in March at St. Paul’s, where an outdoor mural features two traditional Swedish Dala horses between the Spanish words “sanación” (healing) and “resiliencia” (resilience).

After last Sunday’s worship, the altar table and Easter lilies were moved to make room for seven acupuncture chairs, arranged in a circle facing the central cross. Three massage tables were set up in front of the pews for the Reiki treatment, where practitioners hold their hands on or near the body’s energy centers.

“To see this space be quite literally a place of healing, in the place where we talk about it right at the altar, it moved me to tears,” Osorto said.

Wellness practitioners and mental health clinicians say anxiety and depression among those they serve in migrant communities have spread and intensified this year.

Already, migrants often arrive with severe trauma from violence they fled in their home countries as well as attacks along cartel-controlled routes to and through the U.S. border.

Women in particular often suffer sexual violence on the journey. For many, the fear that they or someone in their families might be deported is revictimizing. That makes it imperative that “safe places” exist where they can focus on wellness, said Noeline Maldonado, executive director of The Healing Center, which helps domestic and sexual violence victims in Brooklyn, New York.

Sessions that promote grounding and mindfulness are necessary to cope with the stress of both immediate crises as well as long-term unpredictability as immigration policies shift.

“Uncertainty is the biggest thing,” said Cheryl Aguilar, director of Hope Center for Wellness in the Washington, D.C., area, which has partnered with churches to provide mental health programs.

Being in community and cultivating hope is crucial because many people are responding to fear with rising anxiety, traumatic symptoms and isolation, all of which can have lasting consequences, Aguilar added.

“It’s nonstop work, nonstop fear,” said Sarah Howell, a clinical social worker in Houston with more than a decade of experience in migration-related trauma. “Every issue seems bigger.”

Howell said many of her clients in Texas are realizing they can’t live in a state of constant alarm, and the respite that wellness programs can bring becomes essential.

“People feel hopeless, but they have to keep fighting,” said Guadalupe Gonzalez, one of the bilingual Reiki practitioners whose organization, Odigo Wellness, partnered with St. Paul's in Minneapolis to offer the sessions.

She said she had some doubts about offering these healing practices inside a church — a large space with light flooding in and people moving through.

“But the sanctuary has a very nice, very positive energy,” Gonzalez said. “As practitioners we feel a lot of emotions.”

Several congregants who attended last Sunday’s two-hour wellness session said they felt both the energy and the connection between these healing practices and faith.

Martha Dominguez came bouncing down the altar steps after an acupuncture session. Grinning, she said she had never imagined a church would offer these kinds of “benefits.”

“Yes, it helps so much,” said the Mexican immigrant. “It takes the stress away from you.”

Limber Saliero, a roofer from Ecuador who has been worshipping at St. Paul’s for five years, said he had never heard of acupuncture but decided to try it.

“I felt like an energy that was flowing into me,” he said.

Vanessa Arcos tried acupuncture with her sister and her father, while her mother got a Reiki treatment. The family started attending the church the week they arrived in Minnesota from their home state of Guerrero, Mexico, almost a decade ago.

Lying in the lounge chair next to a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Arcos said she overcame her fear of needles and found the treatment relaxing for both muscles and mind.

“It felt very peaceful, very safe,” Arcos said. “It’s important to do little things for yourself.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Spring blossoms bloom on a tree next to the entrance of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, a congregation founded by Swedish immigrants in the late 19th century that has started offering wellness programs in its sanctuary as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Congregants of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church receive acupuncture treatments in the sanctuary after worship during a wellness program the church started as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Guadalupe Gonzalez performs a Reiki treatment as Limber Saliero, background right, undergoes an acupuncture session in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness programs as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Martha Dominguez receives an acupuncture treatment in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Juan Carlos Toapanta, foreground, and Martha Dominguez, background, receive acupuncture treatments in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Acupuncturist Kahlyn Keilty-Lucas starts a treatment at St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which holds wellness sessions after Sunday worship in the sanctuary as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

The Rev. Hierald Osorto speaks to the congregation of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which holds wellness sessions after Sunday worship in the sanctuary as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Juan Carlos Toapanta receives an acupuncture treatment in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Guadalupe Gonzalez, foreground center, and two other practitioners perform Reiki treatments in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, where congregant Lizete Vega, left, helped organize wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

Marakah Mancini de León performs a Reiki treatment near a sign in Spanish reading, “Christ is risen,” in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which recently added wellness sessions as part of its migrant ministry, in Minneapolis, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)