A firm donated $750,000 of fireworks to Trump's Fourth of July show - and Trump scrapped fireworks tariffs the same day

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• On the same day Phantom Fireworks donated $750,000 worth of sparklers and bottle rockets to the US government, President Trump scrapped plans to impose tariffs of 25% on virtually all Chinese goods including fireworks, according to ABC News.
• Phantom's CEO and vice-president sit on the board of the American Pyrotechnics Association, which recently signed an open letter calling for the US government to remove tariffs on Chinese goods.
• Phantom CEO Bruce Zoldan made his case directly to Trump during an Oval Office meeting with business executives in May, but the group didn't discuss fireworks, he told ABC News.
• Phantom executives told ABC News the gift wasn't politically motivated and had been planned months before.
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On the same day Phantom Fireworks donated $750,000 worth of sparklers and bottle rockets to the US government, President Trump scrapped plans to impose tariffs of 25% on virtually all Chinese goods including fireworks, according to ABC News.

Phantom, America's largest consumer-fireworks retailer, has repeatedly lobbied the Trump administration to end the US-China trade war.

The company's CEO and vice-president, Bruce Zoldan and William Weimer, sit on the board of the American Pyrotechnics Association, which recently signed an open letter calling for the government to remove tariffs on Chinese goods.

Phil Grucci, CEO of Fireworks by Grucci - the pyrotechnics producer deploying Phantom's fireworks during this year's show - serves as the advocacy group's treasurer.

Zoldan made his case directly to Trump during an Oval Office meeting with business executives in May, but the group didn't discuss fireworks, he told ABC News. Trump struck a truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping last Saturday to resume trade talks and hold off on across-the-board tariffs.

Phantom executives told ABC News the gift wasn't politically motivated and had been planned months before. President Trump publicly thanked both fireworks companies on Tuesday.

"Thanks to 'Phantom Fireworks' and 'Fireworks by Grucci' for their generosity in donating the biggest fireworks show Washington D.C. has ever seen," Trump tweeted. "CEO's Bruce Zoldan and Phil Grucci are helping to make this the greatest 4th of July celebration in our Nations history!"

Almost all fireworks sold in the US are made in China, the world's biggest producer of pyrotechnics. Sales of fireworks in the US have more than tripled in the past 20 years and exceeded $1.3 billion last year, according to APA data. At least 10 fireworks companies signed the open letter opposing tariffs, highlighting the industry's large stake in the US-China trade war.