Cigar company founder asks for a tariff exemption

[El Presidente]

On behalf of the oppressed cigar smokers out there. 

Cigar company founder Michael Knowles asks Trump for a tariff exemption

Knowles: “Anyone listening right now in the admin, a great little carve out would be for all of the patriotic Americans who have been oppressed for too long, who work in the premium cigar industry, and for all of the premium cigar smokers”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published 04/23/25 12:00 PM EDT

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MICHAEL KNOWLES (HOST): One minor point I want to bring up. It's a major point for me.

When it comes to these trade policies, I have an inside view on only one industry, and that is the cigar industry because I'm an owner of Mayflower Cigars. I'm the founder of this boutique cigar company. And even though it's a very large cigar company, thanks to all of you who smoke Mayflower Cigars — but it's still a relatively new, relatively boutique company. 

And cigar tobacco generally comes from Latin America. Sometimes from Africa, sometimes from the South Pacific, sometimes from Connecticut and Pennsylvania as Mayflower is incorporating into maybe some new blends that we'll talk about later. But the vast majority, virtually all the premium cigar tobacco comes from Latin America. And there are these massive tariffs right now, relatively massive compared to other Latin American countries, on Nicaragua, which has become the cigar capital of the world after the communists took over Cuba and messed up that cigar industry. And it's where a lot of American investment has gone. It's where a lot of American cigars come from. And I think the tariffs are 18 or 19% right now. 

I think that while Trump is creating exemptions, I'm not just asking this because, you know, it helps Mayflower cigars. I'm looking at it more from a political angle. Premium cigar consumers, they're basically all Trump supporters. Not — 80% are Trump supporters. The premium cigar industry, the actual manufacturers who are getting walloped, not only with these tariffs, but with decades of horrible burdensome regulation going back to Obama with s-chip, hiking up all these taxes, all these different shakedowns to bring cigars into the country. The cigar manufacturers are 90%, 95% probably Trump supporters.

This is a small industry, it's an artisanal industry, handmade product, accessible luxury good. Seems to me, while we're carving out all of these exemptions on the tariffs, if we're not gonna onshore cigar making, because that's not possible in the United States, not certainly not possible at scale, but it's just not — you can't. That's just not how cigars work. If we're not gonna get a lot of revenue, really, from the tariffs as a matter of our US budget, and if we want to maybe be a little nicer to our friends and a little tougher on some of our political opponents, it seems to me a great carve out for the Trump administration. Anyone listening right now in the admin, a great little carve out would be for all of the patriotic Americans who have been oppressed for too long, who work in the premium cigar industry, and for all of the premium cigar smokers. Just like the image that you have of the conservative man might be worth — we're talking we're talking real politics here, folks. Friends and enemies. OK? Come on. Come on.

[Puros Y Vino]

In short. Please remove tariffs that affect us so we can continue to exploit low wage workers in 2nd/3rd world countries and keep our high margins?  Yes it's the "patriotic Americans who have been oppressed for too long, who work in the premium cigar industry" that have been suffering in the cigar industy.  🙄  Lots of hyperbole and jingoism in this little piece.  

[BrightonCorgi]

I am fine with tariffs on imported tobacco but I don't want to exclude premium cigars as a category, like  the way vapes and cigarettes are taxed.

 

[DaBoot]

I think he was just rambling on, a little political banter from a talking head. There is a nugget of truth that he wants to make more money, nobody likes their pocket book squeezed. I don’t see Knowles angry over the tariffs, just weird intellectual humor from him as always. Sounds like a Root Cause Analysis read backwards ( therefore statements ) for most of his thought pieces.