
China tariffs are no longer 145%, but for small businesses in the crossfire, ‘it’s still awful’
CNN
President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a steep tax on most goods that come into America has tested the mettle of small business owners whose companies are reliant on global trade.
President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a steep tax on most goods that come into America has tested the mettle of small business owners whose companies are reliant on global trade. And the fits and starts that have come along with Trump’s tariff program are not just testing these business owners’ patience, they’re also threatening their very operations. The latest, and perhaps biggest, curveball came last week when the US and China agreed to sharply lower their respective tariff rates for 90 days. The de-escalation brought the US tariffs on Chinese goods down to 30% from 145%. Markets cheered the news, and recession forecasts lessened in intensity. And that surely meant that small business owners who faced steep tariff bills — including Busy Baby founder Beth Fynbo Benike, whose next shipment of baby products was going to come with an additional $230,000 price tag — should be super grateful, right? Fynbo Benike answered that question with some seething sarcasm and a dose of realism.

An initial reading of third-quarter gross domestic product showed the US economy expanded at an inflation-adjusted annualized rate of 4.3%, a far faster pace than the 3.8% recorded in the second quarter, according to Commerce Department data released Tuesday. That’s the fastest growth rate in two years.

Paramount has upped the ante in its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, announcing Monday that Larry Ellison will personally guarantee the tens of billions of dollars he is putting up to bankroll the transaction. The Ellisons will also let shareholders peer into the finances of their family trust.











