Cambria CEO Marty Davis says the new U.S. safeguard on quartz surface products should be viewed as protection for the entire domestic countertop supply chain — not only the companies that manufacture slabs.

During a recent Stone World Podcast interview, Davis defended the trade action and responded to criticism from fabricators concerned about its effects on material costs and availability. He argued that a greater long-term threat is the continued movement of countertop fabrication overseas.

“Those fabricators are under the same attack today that we were under in 2016 as slab makers,” said Davis. “And that is coming, and it’s coming rapidly.”

President Donald Trump signed Proclamation 11051 on July 31, establishing a four-year tariff-rate quota that took effect Aug. 15. The U.S. International Trade Commission had voted 2-1 that increased imports of quartz surface products were a substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic industry. The safeguard covers raw slabs and fabricated products, including countertops, backsplashes, vanity tops and other finished surfaces, while exempting certain countries.

From Emerging Product to Trade Disputes

Davis described Cambria as a family-owned Midwestern manufacturing and consumer brand founded around 2001. The company initially produced quartz surfacing for flooring and considered supplying slabs to DuPont before developing its own branded countertop and surface business.

Quartz surfacing encountered resistance from portions of the traditional stone industry during its early years, according to Davis.

“We were thought of as the devil’s music,” said Davis. “We had to fight our way in.”

Davis characterized quartz surfacing as a product “born of the mountain,” explaining that its quartz is quarried in aggregate form and processed into slabs rather than extracted as blocks of dimensional stone. The category began gaining significant market share around 2010 through 2012, while granite, marble and other natural stones continued to maintain important positions in the market, according to Davis.

Imports from China accelerated substantially between 2012 and 2017, said Davis. Cambria subsequently filed antidumping and countervailing duty cases against Chinese quartz surface products. The earlier legal effort cost Cambria approximately $6 million, according to Davis, who rejected suggestions that the company received special political treatment.

The current Section 201 proceeding is legally different from an antidumping or countervailing duty investigation. A global safeguard case does not require a finding that foreign producers engaged in an unfair trade practice and is not limited to a single country. Instead, the ITC considers whether products are entering the country in increased quantities and are a substantial cause of serious injury to a domestic industry.

As the China case progressed, importers began shifting their supply chains to countries including India, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, according to Davis. He described the current safeguard as a response to that wider movement of quartz production and imports.

Davis Points to Fabricated Imports

Davis said fabricators should pay particular attention to imports of finished or partially fabricated countertops, rather than viewing the dispute solely as a fight between domestic slab manufacturers and importers.

Improvements in digital measuring, video communication and production technology have made it increasingly practical to measure projects in the U.S., fabricate the countertops overseas and then ship the finished pieces back for installation, according to Davis.

Approximately 37 million square feet of countertops or other surfaces were fabricated overseas and imported into the U.S. in 2025, said Davis. By his calculations, that finished material represented the equivalent of approximately 1.1 million slabs. He identified Vietnam as the largest source of those imports.

“That should alarm professional, high-quality U.S. fabricators throughout the country,” said Davis. “Because they’re coming to get your business, and they’re already far down the line, and they’re accelerating rapidly.”

Davis rejected the argument that Cambria’s trade position discounts the role of independent countertop fabricators. He distinguished between slab manufacturing and fabrication but emphasized that both are essential parts of the domestic industry.

“They are the countertop makers,” said Davis. “They are a critical function of making a slab into a product that is usable by the consumer, and they add great value in that work they do.”

Davis compared countertop fabricators with his father’s cheesemaking business, explaining that both take a raw material and transform it into the finished product purchased by a customer.

He also challenged quartz importers to commit that they would not begin importing more fabricated material as offshore production capabilities expand.

“We’re not going to import fabricated material and bypass the U.S. countertop profession,” said Davis of Cambria.

Without measures addressing imported slabs and finished products, Davis warned, more domestic countertop businesses could lose fabrication work and eventually be left primarily with installation.

“This also is going to benefit greatly the U.S. fabricator, who is also being offshored,” said Davis of the safeguard. “That’s not in their interest or our interest, because if they’re offshoring fabrication, they’re offshoring the slab as well.”

Addressing Affordability Concerns

Davis also pushed back on claims that the quartz safeguard will have a significant effect on housing affordability.

The price of a home is driven more heavily by land, labor, building regulations, professional fees and mortgage rates than by the cost of imported quartz products, according to Davis. Much of the work associated with imported building products, including installation and other on-site labor, also remains domestic.

Davis cited what he described as a government analysis prepared during the trade case, saying it estimated an average effect equal to 0.03% of the price of a new home and a maximum increase of $183 for a new kitchen.

“The manufacturer gets hit real hard by the imported material,” said Davis, while arguing that the resulting savings for consumers are comparatively limited.

Rejecting Claims of Political Favoritism

Davis also disputed allegations that Cambria secured the safeguard through its relationship with the Trump administration.

“We don’t curry favor,” said Davis.

Cambria and other manufacturers seek access to government officials so they can present information about their businesses and the challenges they face, according to Davis. Government officials must then evaluate those claims alongside the positions of importers, foreign producers and foreign governments.

Davis noted that the domestic industry sought stronger measures than the administration ultimately approved, which he argued demonstrates that the White House independently considered potential supply-chain and economic effects.

“If they were currying favor, it would have been an even stronger result,” said Davis.

He described trade enforcement as a bipartisan economic issue rather than a strictly political one.

“Free and fair trade must be, or a free-enterprise market will collapse,” said Davis.

Davis acknowledged that Cambria and other domestic manufacturers pursued the safeguard partly because it serves their own business interests. However, he said those interests align with those of professional U.S. fabricators whose work could increasingly face competition from finished countertops produced overseas.

The safeguard offers domestic slab manufacturers and countertop fabricators time to invest, compete and preserve their respective roles in the U.S. market, according to Davis.