A New Rule Could Change What National Parks Are Allowed To Sell

Souvenirs can sometimes be a waste of money, but if they're sold in U.S. national parks, soon enough they may need to be made in America. Or at least that will be the case if a bill introduced by U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, is passed by Congress and doesn't get vetoed by President Donald Trump.

If passed, H.R. 6714, or The American Products in Parks Act, would require that all products sold in a National Park Service (NPS) gift shop or visitor center have had their final assembly or processing in the U.S. It would also require that the components and ingredients of each product sold in national parks are made and sourced within the United States, and that all significant processing that goes into a product occurs in the U.S.

The bill, which was officially introduced on December 15, 2025, is currently in front of the House Committee on National Resources and has two cosponsors: Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-Colorado), and Rep. Christopher Deluzio (D-Pennsylvania). So, as Gottheimer proclaimed in a press release, the pending legislation has bipartisan support.

According to Gottheimer, 60% of the goods sold in national park shops are made either partially or completely outside the U.S. That assertion is based on a 2008 NPS review of products sold at national parks by the National Park Hospitality Association, which found that 39% of those items were made in the U.S., 31% were just finished in the U.S., and 30% were imported.

The NPS has asserted that multiple concessionaires have sought to promote and sell products made in America. Among them is the Nugget Gift Shop at Death Valley National Park and The Lodge at Bryce Canyon National Park, where items made by local and Native American artists comprise a large portion of the inventory.

Nevertheless, Gottheimer asserted that most items sold at national parks, such as American flags, t-shirts, snow globes, maps, calendars, and "even pictures and paintings of our national parks" are not entirely made in the U.S. "Families who visit our parks, and feel the love of our country that so many of us share, should not have that feeling shattered when they turn over a gift and see 'made in China' instead of 'made in America," Gottheimer said.

Requiring products sold in national parks to be made in the U.S. would also be an economic boost for communities all over the country and help domestic manufacturing grow, Gottheimer asserted, adding: "Every dollar in sales of American-manufactured products generates $1.34 in economic activities in other sectors of the economy." And national park visits do generate a lot of money. In 2024, the NPS estimated that the 332 million people who visited national parks spent $29 billion, including $2.2 billion on retail.

But would President Trump support such a law? While the impact Trump's tariffs have had on the job market hasn't been great so far (as of November 2025, the unemployment rate was at a four-year high of 4.6%, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics), their purpose was to encourage companies to manufacture products in the U.S. and people in the U.S. to buy American. Promoting American manufacturing was the stated reason why Trump placed new import taxes on cabinets, furniture, and big trucks. It's impossible to know for sure how the president will handle the bill if it gets sent to his desk. However, at least for now, the administration has been more focused on eliminating merchandise from park association gift shops that may be linked to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and environmental justice, per a November 2025 memo from the United States Department of the Interior.