Oversized crowbars bend wood for the edge of a piano. Circular grinders smooth rough edges on expensive Sitka spruce soundboards. Hammers and chisels are used to score a bridge so that the piano strings can vibrate freely. For 30 years, Bernard Craddock has been one of the approximately 200 workers who produce handcrafted pianos at the 150-year-old Steinway & Sons factory in Astoria, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone has a job here,\u201d Craddock said as he worked on a piano frame. \u201cMy job is to get the whole thing in order so that the hammers hit the strings.\u201d President Donald Trump has vowed to usher in a renaissance of American manufacturing, a key goal of his trade war. However, due to high costs, strict regulations, and a lack of workers with the necessary skills, manufacturing is not easy anywhere in the United States. Steinway & Sons, however, is a rare bright spot in U.S. manufacturing. A company that thrives because it doesn’t mass produce its products. Instead, it employs a small workforce of skilled craftsmen to produce a premium product \u2013 world-class pianos.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have this heritage brand with history,\u201d said Adam Hersh, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. \u201cThey can charge a premium for that, but they also serve higher segments of the market who can and must afford to pay these premium prices because they play pianos at the highest level.\u201d Most U.S. manufacturers are forced into price competition, which has grown fiercer as Trump’s tariffs, particularly on key raw materials like steel, aluminum and copper, have pushed up prices. But by producing pianos that many consider to be the best in the world, Steinway can charge prices high enough to keep its operations running in the United States. A Steinway grand piano can cost between $90,000 and $200,000.<\/p>\n
Despite the stated goal of relocating manufacturing jobs, Trump’s tariffs on most U.S. imports could have the opposite effect. The U.S. shed another 12,000 manufacturing jobs in August for the fourth straight month, according to the latest available data. Around 42,000 jobs have been lost since April. Hersh said Trump’s chaotic trade agenda is a barrier to hiring factory workers. \u201cBusinesses don\u2019t like (tariffs), but they can adjust to a reasonable rate,\u201d Hersh said. \u201c(Trump has) created uncertainty in the economy as businesses simply stand still, unable to make decisions about investing or hiring new workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the biggest challenges facing the piano maker is a potential shortage of Sitka spruce, which Steiner says is used to make the very best instruments. \u201cFor Sitka spruce, we found that the best in the world come from a certain part of Alaska where the growing season is very short,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a result, the trees grow very slowly.\u201d And Steinway has to ensure that there is another component: skilled workers. The Astoria factory has operated almost continuously since 1873, with only temporary interruptions in piano production during the Great Depression and World War II. During this time the company produced glider parts for the war effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only did it keep the lights on, so to speak, but it also kept some of the valued artisans around,\u201d said Anthony Gilroy, vice president of marketing and communications for Steinway. \u201cThe Steinways were smart enough to know that after the war there would be a lot of people coming back who were willing to work but didn’t have the skills to build pianos, and that you needed those old hands, if you will, here at the factory to train the next generation of piano makers.\u201d That’s one reason Steinway & Sons never considered leaving New York City. It’s this highly specific work, carried out by "old hands" like 30-year-old craftsman Craddock in the frame assembly department, that keeps Steinway calling Astoria home. "You can’t replicate the skills they have. You can’t just open a factory somewhere else and have those skills," Steiner said. \u201cAs long as our craftsmen are here, I can\u2019t think of any reason why they shouldn\u2019t, then we\u2019ll still be making our pianos here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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