Firework demand explodes ahead of Fourth of July weekend
Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss firework demand in recent years.
Video Transcript
BRIAN CHEUNG: Well, time now for our Chart of the Day. And in the spirit of the holiday weekend coming up, we are talking about fireworks. Demand has been exploding-- get it? Exploding for fireworks. Imports to the United States actually well above pre-pandemic levels, this according to the US International Trade Commission. You can see that, apparently, the demand is much higher than pre-pandemic levels. I guess people just want to blow up more things to perhaps let some steam off, Akiko. But interesting that 90% of the exports, though, generally come from China. So, interesting to--
AKIKO FUJITA: I heard fireworks in my neighborhood last night.
BRIAN CHEUNG: Last night already.
AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, yeah. I mean, every year, we see it kind of in the lead-up, right? Not that it's legal, I'm saying.
BRIAN CHEUNG: In the East Village, you've been hearing it?
AKIKO FUJITA: I did hear it last night, yeah, around 10 o'clock. And I thought, here we go, four straight days of that. But--
BRIAN CHEUNG: But do you-- like, during the pandemic, there were those few months where, like, there wasn't an occasion, but people in New York were just, like, firing off--
AKIKO FUJITA: That felt like it was a month. That hasn't been the case this time around. But you got the sense at the time that people were kind of just itching to get out and do something. But I mean, hopefully, things stay safe this weekend.
BRIAN CHEUNG: How do you feel about drones? Because you've been hearing that, like, maybe this would be a safer, more climate-friendly way to celebrate the holidays.
AKIKO FUJITA: So Axios had an interesting story this morning, saying there's a number of cities, especially in places where they have had wildfires, who are shifting over from fireworks over to drones. That's an expensive proposition. I'm just going to go out on a limb and say drones are probably more expensive than fireworks. I may be wrong here, but I don't know. I like fireworks. July 4th especially--
BRIAN CHEUNG: Drones kind of creep me out. The thing is, I think they're cool-looking, but they freak me out a little bit. Just the idea that you can, like-- they can fly around and, like, change shape on a dime. It makes me-- like, I'm, like, worried that-- I get nervous when I see swarms of, like, pigeons flying in New York.
AKIKO FUJITA: Yes, I know--
BRIAN CHEUNG: I kind of get the--
AKIKO FUJITA: I know what you mean.
BRIAN CHEUNG: I'm like, uh.
AKIKO FUJITA: When they first come in, it is-- but there's some cool displays that we've seen, especially, like, the Olympics, for example. Just more recently, we've seen a lot more of drone displays happening there.
BRIAN CHEUNG: All right. Well, maybe that's in the future.
