Multi-Faceted Issue

Tariffs are impacting the groundwater industry in a multitude of ways.

By LaTisha Shipman

I never knew tariffs were so fluid. I don’t recall a time within the last 24 years that I’ve seen this much change.

For now, though, this seems to be our new normal, and whether you’re for them or against them, this isn’t political. I just want to take a good look at how this affects down-the-hole hammers, hammer parts, and bits.

We truly live in a global society. I think we all learned that during the pandemic when our supply chain was greatly hindered by entire countries shutting down their borders for commerce and trade. Entire machine shops were completely shut down overseas, which in turn backed up the machine shops that stayed open.

We had to prove here in America that we were “essential.”

I can remember our owner asking us to document calls that would prove we were essential to stay open. Shortly thereafter, I received a call regarding a municipal well in Iowa that had failed and a new well would need to be drilled. They needed a 10-inch hammer and bit as soon as possible. That was our ticket to staying open as it showed we were essential to the water well industry.

Even though we might have learned our lesson back then, I don’t know that we really did anything about putting into practice what we learned to protect ourselves from supply chain disruptions. As Americans, we can have short memories sometimes.

An Opportunity to Buy Better

I don’t necessarily view the tariffs as a supply chain disruption, but rather an opportunity for us to better outsource our hammers and bits from U.S. manufacturers. We have the liberty to choose what products we run, but do we ever stop to consider the benefit of buying American products?

Yes, we might pay more for an American-made hammer orbit, but you are putting food on the table of an American machinist as well. I know that as water well drillers, you want to keep your costs down and run the best cost per foot that you possibly can. However, I also personally believe that American-made
products are in most cases still superior to overseas products when it comes to quality.

Just visit one of our American hammer and bit manufacturers to see how they operate and look at their quality processes. They are intense! This is even more true if the business is an ISO-certified company. These American hammer and bit manufacturers operate with the same material quality standards as the aerospace industry does. Shouldn’t we be willing to pay more for that?

A Push to Buy American

In the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy in 2001, there was a huge push to “Buy American” in the construction market and in the rebuilding efforts of the areas that were destroyed. My employer at the time was a participant in that program, and I had to submit paperwork and documentation to contractors on occasion proving that our hammers and bits were 100% manufactured in the United States with U.S. steel.

The tariff situation feels like it is leading us back to “Buy American” because even American-made hammers and bits are cheaper than paying 120% tariffs on hammers and bits coming from China.

I am getting asked on a weekly basis for tariff-free products, and I’m happy to comply. Our supply chain is well established to outsource from American manufacturers, and you can feel good about keeping another American employed.

You may be wondering why U.S. manufacturers are having price increases. I have heard from many people that “they just increase prices because they can.” However, in my opinion, that’s just not correct.

I have seen hammer and bit manufacturers implement increases of 2.5% to 7% so far since the beginning of this year. I personally know of one U.S. hammer and bit manufacturer that hasn’t had an increase and another increased by only 2.5%, the lowest of all the increases, and these two companies are 100% made in America.

The higher increases are coming from companies that have manufacturing facilities on both sides of the pond. So again, our true American manufacturers are the lowest when it comes to increasing rates.

One of the main reasons for the price increases affecting DTH bits is coming from the tariff on raw tungsten material, which is primarily sourced from China, and used in the manufacturing of carbide buttons. Unless we increase our mining of tungsten in America and other countries, we are at the mercy of China regarding tungsten imports.

Quite frankly, the sourcing of raw materials can take time to change our supply chains. One of the benefits of that would be that we see an increase in American mining, which also consumes hammers and bits and keeps our American hammer and bit manufacturers open and busy.

The Elephant in the Room

I understand the tariffs are designed to strengthen our economy, but the tariff situation doesn’t address the elephant in the room—which is labor, or rather, the lack thereof.

We are all feeling the effects of the lack of labor. There are generational drilling companies that have shut down because the next generation had no interest. Suppliers are hard-pressed to find and keep men and women who are truly passionate about learning the drilling industry and how and where to source products. Manufacturers are almost always hiring laborers, machinists, programmers, draftsmen, etc. We can all see the problem, but what is the solution?

I feel like there is a change happening in our young men and women in high school who are truly interested in a trade or skill-based career. I don’t know about you, but the drilling industry was not offered as a career choice when I was in high school. Yet just three years after high school, a lady who I went to church with and worked at Sandvik let me know she was looking for a receptionist. That’s how this all started for me!

I always encourage others to take whatever position is open and then work your way up. I feel like we can target certain young men and women who are interested in or already involved in the work programs at their high school such as machinists, welders, and automotive because rig mechanics are few and far between these days.

An Opportunity to Solve the Problem

One thing I think could be beneficial is if our state and national associations reached out to local high schools and trade colleges and offered a limited number of free event registrations to students, so our trade shows could serve as a job fair of sorts.

I’m in Texas, so I’ll use the Texas Groundwater Association as an example and ask Bobby to forgive me later! The 2026 state convention is in San Marcos. Why couldn’t we reach out to local high school and college trade schools in that area and invite their machinists or auto mechanics, programmers, welders, etc. to attend our show for free?

Could we develop a way to put them in contact with local drilling companies, suppliers, or manufacturers as future potential employees? Could we offer a beginner course in the drilling industry and initiate a discussion about all the supporting industries they could be a part of? I think these are all exciting opportunities.

One of my previous employers participated in an awesome program with our local technical high school, Ben Barber Innovation Academy, in Mansfield, Texas. There were six local businesses that brought in students enrolled in their machining classes. There were about five to six students per business, and they came in two days for three hours each day to work alongside our machinists for real-world, on-the-job training.

Can you imagine such an opportunity at that age? Every six weeks they would rotate to one of the other businesses in town ,so they were able to get experience at a variety of different machine shops. We hired a few of these students after they graduated.

I feel like this is a program that could be replicated within our industry at multiple levels. For example, the mechanics classes are often looking for projects. Do you have something simple that you could pass along? How many of you have some broken pieces of equipment that need to be repaired or restored but you don’t have the time to do it? These students could work on it for free, learn about our industry, and in turn, it could also spark their interest in this type of repair work into a viable career.

Dealing with Young People

One thing I think we must remember, and sometimes I struggle with this myself as I try to mentor those younger than me, is we used to be new at this too. I recall making some expensive mistakes while I was learning. Some were rather embarrassing mistakes too, like putting a full-face diamond bit in a soft formation. Not fun and would not recommend.

While I am passionate about what I do now, it was just a job when I started at 21. I just needed to pay my bills and feed my kiddos, but at some point it became more than a job. I can’t tell you when, how, or why it happened, but now I can’t walk away from it. I love what I do.

I feel like we need to be patient with those who are starting out because it might still be just a job for them right now. They can’t just jump in and start turning wrenches without instruction. We must effectively communicate to them what we expect and want them to do—and we’ll probably have to do it more than once. Patience is key.

They don’t know what they don’t know. But I know we need teachable young talent, and we need to be apt to teach.

LaTisha Shipman is the Texas branch manager for Drilling Equipment Resources. She has more than 20 years of experience in the drilling industry, with most of that time spent working in manufacturing with DTH hammers and bits. She can be reached at latisha@drillingequipmentresources.com.