Small business owners are terrified that Trump’s tariffs will tax them out of market competitiveness, profitability, and future growth.
Local business owners coast to coast are sounding the alarm that Trump’s tariffs are a steep tax that will increase operational costs, disrupt supply chains, and potentially force them to close altogether.
Trump’s Tax on Small Businesses Means Higher Prices for Everyone
- Sarah Payne, owner of Denver Concrete Vibrator, said her business runs on very small margins and that “a 25% increase in any product is going to hurt. And we can’t just raise our prices every time the cost goes up to us. So we are losing a lot of money.”
- Jim Arpe, the owner of Learning Express Toys & Gifts in Florida, said his suppliers have already sent him notice that prices are going up, saying, “I can’t absorb all of it.”
- Matt McMahon, owner of the Eleventh Hour Brewing company in Pittsburgh, predicts tariffs will raise the price of beer and impact the long-term stability of a lot of brewers. McMahon told reporters, “A lot of your favorite local breweries are going to be feeling that pain.”
- Linda Schlesinger-Wagner, the owner of skinnytees in Michigan, told reporters, “I think people are going to be truly shocked at the pricing they’re going to see on the cars, on the lumber, on the clothes, on the food. This is going to be a mess.”
- Misty Skolnick, the co-owner of Uncle Jerry’s Pretzels in Pennsylvania, said the Trump tax will force them to raise prices “if we want to stay in business and we want to continue to be able to produce this item.”
- Amanda Carson, co-owner of The British Shoppe in Tennessee, said, “As a small business, every penny, every dollar counts, and we don’t want to raise costs for our customers.”
- Leonard Simon, the owner of Wright & Simon in Delaware, said Trump’s tax would have a “very negative effect on me” and predicted it would lead to even less consumer confidence due to higher prices, telling reporters, “even if they can afford it, they could be more hesitant to go out and spend money in the first place now.“
Trump’s Tax Could Shut Down Main Street
- Yesi Noyola, owner of Kandy Queen Ducleia in Texas, fears that higher prices will mean “we’ll have to close our doors because people won’t have the money to come and shop for things like piñatas and all the traditional Mexican candy that people love.”
- Sarah Pitkin, the owner of four hardware stores in Virginia, shares the same fear that people won’t pay more for basic goods, leading to tough decisions for local business owners. Pitkin told the New York Times, “Your items shrink to the point where you’re really going to evaluate if you’ll keep certain shops open.”
- They’re not the only ones afraid of keeping the doors open. Annie Bassin, the founder of Annie’s Ginger Elixir in New York, said Trump’s tax means “I’d have to double my prices and that would put me out of business.”
- Dana Chadwell, owner of the Chattanooga Yarn Co. in Tennessee, said, “If I get hit with those tariffs mid-year, it’s going to be an absolute killer on the business.”
Published: Apr 2, 2025