SYRACUSE -- There is concern among local candle makers that unfair trade practices of Chinese candle exporters will cripple their business.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D, New York) stopped in Syracuse Tuesday to talk about his efforts to protect Syracuse candle making jobs.

Currently, the U.S. imposes an import tariff on cheap candles that Chinese companies send to the U.S. in an attempt to undercut domestic producers like Cathedral Candle.

Schumer is now urging the U.S. Commerce Department not to open loopholes which make it easier for Chinese exports to undercut American manufacturers.

"Syracuse has a long and storied past as a candle making city, but with only one major candle maker left in town, it's clear that those days are on the brink of melting away," Schumer said. "Rather than making it easier for Chinese candle exporters to slide through loopholes and circumvent our trade laws, we need to crack down on the flood of cheap imports that are putting these seventy jobs at risk."

The Cathedral Candle Company, located on Kirkpatrick Street in Syracuse, is more than 100 years old. It employs 70 workers, and is currently in its fourth generation of family ownership. The company makes the vast majority of candles used in churches throughout the United States.