Earlier this month, President Donald Trump officially implemented tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on 70 countries. Small business owners in the Triangle are saying that these tariffs are already affecting their bottom lines.
“I can’t charge $30 for a chocolate bar, I can’t raise your price three times and leave us in this weird spot where we have to switch our business,” Sam Ratto, owner of Videri Chocolate in downtown Raleigh, told ABC 11.
Ratto said the tariffs on ingredients he imports to make his confections have already spelled big trouble, and he’s concerned it could get worse.
“What it does for us is we immediately have to pay 20 to 75% more for goods. The other side of it is our importers are also preemptively raising their prices to protect themselves from import tariffs as well,” he said.
Ratto is a “bean to bar” chocolate maker, sourcing beans directly from Central and South America, as well as other parts of the world. Now, the sugar he buys from Brazil is subject to a 40% tariff — and he’s already seen a steep price hike in the cocoa he buys from places such as the Caribbean and Vietnam.
“Last year, we were paying about $5,800 for a ton of Dominican beans. We paid $15,000 for a ton last month,” Ratto said.
Trump has spared few countries from his tariffs, even levying them on close allies and key suppliers of household necessities. Canada, a top U.S. trade partner, faces a 35% tariff. While Brazil, a key source of coffee, received a 40% tariff, which, when added on top of the 10% baseline tariff in the new order, means a 50% rate on the country’s imports to the U.S.
Across the Triangle, international business owners are bracing for the effects. Sarika Bansal represents many Indian American business owners in Cary’s District D, which has a large Southern Asian population.
“It is going to impact the community. It is definitely going to impact small businesses and everybody around us. So, you know, there’s definitely a sense of anxiety and concern,” Bansal said.
Bansal said the evolving nature of the tariffs– and their use as a negotiating tactic– has left many of Cary’s business owners caught in the middle. The tariff rate fluctuations and the uncertainty inherent in them are making it difficult for businesses to plan for the future.
“Nobody knows how to handle this. Once things settle down, people will probably start to look for a plan B, but right now, nobody knows what to expect in the next six months. So, we’re just waiting and watching,” she said.
Consumers are expected to be hit hard as well. The tariffs put forward so far by Trump are expected to cost an average household an additional $2,400 this year, the Yale Budget Lab found.
