AGTA Goes to Washington: Bridges and Ford meet with Republicans

As reported on May 1, 2025, AGTA Board President and President of Bridges Tsavorite, Bruce Bridges, and AGTA CEO John W. Ford, Sr., traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with key Republican members of Congress regarding tariffs that affect the colored gemstone and broader jewelry industry.

Bridges and Ford met with elected officials including:
Senator Ted Cruz – Republican from Texas
House of Representative Member Randy Weber – Republican representing the 14th District of Texas on the Gulf coast near Houston
House of Representative Member Ronny Jackson – Republican representing the 13th congressional district of Texas just northwest of Dallas
House of Representative Member Andy Barr – Republican representing Kentucky’s 6th congressional district including the city of Lexington
House of Representative Member David R. Rouzer – Republican representing North Carolina’s 7th congressional district that includes parts of Fayetteville and Wilmington along the coast
House of Representative Member Mike Simpson – Republican representative for Idaho’s 2nd congressional district that includes most of Boise and the eastern portion of the state
and House of Representative Member Mike Bost – Republican representing Illinois’ 12th congressional District which covers the entire southern portion of the state, among others.

Additional AGTA representatives have been and are in contact with members of the Trump Administration addressing AGTA’s tariff concerns. 

Bridges and Ford note positive developments
“Our meetings were very productive and followed weeks of detailed work by AGTA’s trade representatives Hecht, Latham, Spencer & Associates,  [a national government relations consulting firm] of Washington, D.C. We are now cautiously optimistic about resolving the tariff issues affecting AGTA’s membership.”

Timothy P. Hecht (seen in the photo on the right), president, served in the first Bush Administration as Deputy Political Director at the White House and at the U.S. Department of Commerce as Deputy Counselor to Secretary Robert Mosbacher (1989- 1993). In these positions, along with service in the national campaigns, Tim has worked closely with the leadership of the Republican Party in formulating political and legislative strategy.

AGTA will continue to update its membership and the industry as its trade representatives in Washington work on the tariff issues daily. The next update to the AGTA membership will be at the AGTA membership meeting at AGTA GemFair Las Vegas at JCK Las Vegas 2025 on June 9.

Questions can be directed to [email protected].

AGTA Press Release

April 29 – GIA Press Release

Dear Client,
We are very pleased to share with you that, at this time, all GIA laboratories have resumed accepting goods according to their local service criteria. All locations outside the United States will also resume accepting items to be shipped to GIA in the U.S. for services.

Shipments to GIA Laboratories in the U.S.
We understand that some courier companies are offering options, including foreign trade zones (FTZ) and temporary import bonds (TIB), for the temporary import of goods into the U.S. and their re-export. The use of these options provided by the courier companies, along with any logistics arrangements or other coordination for direct shipments of goods to GIA in the U.S. for GIA laboratory services, is the responsibility of the courier and their customers.

Any client intending to submit rough diamonds should contact the GIA laboratory where they plan to submit the rough diamonds for additional information prior to shipping. Currently, there is no mechanism to ship rough diamonds to the U.S. for laboratory services without incurring a tariff.

Local Service Criteria
The GIA laboratories in Hong Kong and Dubai will continue to accept D-to-Z diamonds up to 9.99 carats. All other GIA laboratory locations are accepting submissions for local service or for shipment to other GIA locations. Please review the local service criteria here: https://www.gia.edu/gem-lab-payment-services-location.

From JCK Online
According to Rob Bates, news director of JCK, “leading industry transport company Malca-Amit told customers that ‘shipments to GIA NYC/Carlsbad can now resume under specific conditions.’ The email listed the following conditions:
– All shipments must return to their country of origin within 90 days of entry into the U.S. That means they can’t be sold or traded in the U.S. after they’re graded.
– The shipment must be returned in full, as it was sent. No partial or consolidated returns are allowed.
– If the 90-day limit is exceeded, U.S. Customs will impose a penalty equal to 100% of the stone’s value plus applicable duties, taxes, and tariffs.
– Every shipment to GIA must have insurance coverage for 200% of its value and include applicable tariffs.
– As rough diamonds are still tariffed, they shouldn’t be sent to GIA New York but to GIA Hong Kong or Dubai.”

Tap here to read more from Bates in his weekly Diamond Shavings on JCKOnline.com