As a small business owner and a consumer, I am not excited to pay higher prices and to have to sell products at an inflated price. Tariffs are taxes collected by the government that end up getting paid by manufacturers, businesses and consumers. They are a good tool to get foreign governments treat our exported products fairly and to leverage other concessions on policy, but they should not be a permanent part of commerce between nations.
When President Donald Trump announces his tariffs earlier this year, they resulted in changes to border security and drug interdiction policies of Mexico and Canada. Tariffs should not a permanent way for government to raise cash, because government already raises enough to fund a small, limited government. Spending is the bigger problem for Americans is government overspending. Hopefully the new tariffs are also temporary to lower the burden on the American taxpayer.
I am the owner of a vape specialty store, and I will be unduly burdened by these tariffs. Approximately 91 percent of vaping devices and components are manufactured in China, these tariffs substantially increase procurement costs for small retailers like myself. Consequently, vape shops will face difficult decisions: either absorb the heightened expenses, thereby reducing already slim profit margins, or pass the costs onto consumers, potentially diminishing sales and customer loyalty.
Small vape shops, like my own, often lack the resources to diversify suppliers or stockpile inventory, and are likely to experience product shortages or delays. This instability can lead to inconsistent product availability, frustrating customers and driving them to larger competitors or unregulated markets. Additionally, the increased operational costs may hinder these small businesses’ ability to invest in compliance with evolving regulatory standards, further jeopardizing their viability in a highly scrutinized industry.
These tariffs will expand beyond my own shop.
This week, new tariffs will hit consumers according to news reports. The BBC reported on March 3, 2025, “Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday the tariffs will happen as planned but the exact details will depend on negotiations.” These tariffs include a hike of 10$ on Chinese imports because the Trump Administration believes that “Beijing is not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US.” It is possible that we are in another situation where if foreign governments promise more changes to policy, the tariffs will be temporary.
The impact on the economy has already been felt. Last week, the stock market was spooked by the threat of new tariffs. The APreported on February 27, 2025, “the threat of tariffs frightened the stock market with the S&P 500 index falling 1.6% on Thursday. The S&P 500 is now just 1.4% higher than it was after Trump won the election in November, giving up almost all of the gains that the president once cited as evidence of an economic revival.”
Leading organizations advocating for the private sector are deeply concerned about even the threat of tariffs impact on the economy and small businesses. Chamber of Commerce Sr. Vice President John Murphy argued that the tariffs threatened a month ago, “the imposition of tariffs under IEEPA is unprecedented, won’t solve these problems, and will only raise prices for American families and upend supply chains.” The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was passed by Congress in 1977 to empower the President to impose sanctions and have expanded economic powers in a true national emergency. Opponents of the use of this extraordinary power argue that the power to tax under the tariff authority resides in Congress and there is no real emergency that allows the President to take control of that taxing authority.
The Chamber’s Murphy also points out that if the United States hits another nation with tariffs, they will fight back and impact our exports. Murphy wrote on April 27, 2022, “China, for instance, remains the fastest growing large market for U.S. exports but its tariffs on U.S. goods were raised from 8% in early 2018 to 21% today, according to research by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.” That was in response to tariffs imposed by the United States resulting in exporters paying higher duties with “foreign tariffs—including retaliatory duties—on agricultural products tend(ing) to be the highest of any major category.” Trump’s announcement of new tariffs will likely lead to higher tariffs on American exported goods hitting farmers and small businesses the hardest.
Let’s hope that the announcement this week of new tariffs is more of a threat than a long-term reality.