Bay Area small businesses feel the squeeze of President Trump’s tariffs

Tariffs impacting small businesses in Tampa Bay area

FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer reports.

YBOR CITY, Fla. - A group of Tampa Bay small business owners gathered in Ybor City on Monday to discuss the impacts they're experiencing following the Trump Administration's sweeping tariffs.

U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor (D-Tampa) hosted the roundtable discussion at Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters on East 7th Avenue.

"We want to know what the strategy is from the President of the United States. So far, it's been chaos and confusion," said Castor.

Local perspective:

Among the business owners who joined Castor was Stephanie Swain, who owns Allen Shuffleboard in Seminole. They sell shuffleboard parts and equipment.

Swain said her supplier is based in China, the one country not included in President Trump's 90-day pause on the tariffs he announced last week.

"I have one order that cost me $12,000 in materials. I still have to pay for shipping, and now with the tariffs, it's going to be almost $30,000 by the time it gets here," Swain said, adding she had to put that order on hold.

What they're saying:

Swain said she wants to buy materials from an American supplier, but it's too expensive. Some of the supplies she needs are no longer made in the U.S.

"A lot of times, we can't afford to buy it at a price point that our customers can afford to pay for it," Swain said. "We've been trying to shift things into the U.S. for manufacturing, but not everything we've been able to."

"We're not raising prices to make more money. We're actually raising prices just to stay in business," added Roberto Torres, who owns Blind Tiger and said he imports coffee beans from Central and South America.

He added that coffee beans must be brought in from other countries because they aren't produced in the U.S.

"We're not here to make it political about one extreme or the other. We're just here to highlight what the unintended consequences are," Torres said.

Big picture view:

The president, meanwhile, has said he believes the tariffs are a way to force other countries to negotiate better trade deals with the U.S.

"When the United States is punched, we will punch back harder," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week. "He hopes to make a deal that benefits the American worker and our companies that have been ripped off for far too long."

The Source: FOX 13’s Aaron Mesmer collected the information in this story.

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