‘How Are We Going to Afford This?’ U.S. Companies Face Tariff Reality.
The New York Times
Business owners told The Times that President Trump’s tariffs could lead to higher costs and expressed frustration at the sudden uncertainty about policy.
From her home in Phoenix, Erica Campbell is waiting for a cargo vessel from China to deliver a shipment of thousands of Jesus rattle dolls, tin Easter eggs, religious-themed baby swaddle blankets and 15,000 packages of Jesus Heals bandages.
Ms. Campbell, 36, the owner of Be a Heart, a Catholic goods business, paid the Chinese factories that manufacture the items months ago. The boxes were loaded in a container before President Trump imposed a new 10 percent tariff on all Chinese imports on Feb. 1. She said she probably avoided paying an additional duty as a result, but she was worried there would be more U.S. tariffs to come.
“I can’t figure out what is going to happen,” Ms. Campbell said. “I am on high alert.”
Mr. Trump’s targeting of China has thrown millions of small businesses into turmoil. For decades, American firms have designed products in the United States and turned to Chinese factories to produce the goods efficiently and inexpensively. It is how Apple produces iPhones, and how an entrepreneur like Ms. Campbell, a mother of three, operates a business that she said generates $2 million a year in sales from her kitchen.
The New York Times has heard from nearly 100 companies that import from China about how the president’s tariffs were affecting them. They are a cross-section of striving enterprises stitched into the global economy: companies that make greeting cards, board games, outdoor footwear, hangers, digital picture frames, coffee equipment, toys, stained-glass windows and custom electronics.
Several themes emerged. American businesses, not Chinese suppliers, were shouldering the cost of tariffs. Many companies said they would have to raise prices to offset the expense if they had not already. Some spoke of a feeling of business paralysis: They were afraid to make plans amid the unpredictable stream of new tariffs, fearing the risk of moving production out of China since no country seemed immune.
