Small businesses are "casualty of war" in proposed Trump tariffs, Pittsburgh business owner says
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — With President-elect Donald Trump threatening to use tariffs to stop the flow of illegal drugs and immigrants into the United States, small businesses could pay the price with a cost increase in their products shipped from overseas.
For nearly 14 years, Yerimah's Sisters Beauty Supply, a Black-owned beauty supply business, has called downtown Pittsburgh home. Yega Tita-Costia took the business over in 2019 and remained true to its roots, but now the future is more uncertain than ever.
"I think us small businesses are a casualty of war, and nobody is really thinking about the effects it's going to have on us and our families, and even just the communities," Tita-Costia said.
Possible tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China could impact the bottom line of local businesses. Trump is threatening to impose them as soon as he takes office.
"Ninety percent of the products in here that we have in this store come from China," Tita-Costia explained.
Tita-Costia's business is bracing for a possible price increase. It's one of many industries that gets its products from overseas.
"To go from paying $250 to $300 on a $4,000 order, to pay almost $1,300, and not even for 1,300 pieces, that's over a dollar adding to the price of each piece," she told KDKA-TV in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
President-elect Trump wrote on social media that one of his first executive orders will be to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States. He also vowed to charge an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods.
"We'll either have to take the hit and maybe push a little bit onto our customers, but it's going to be a drastic change," Tita-Costia said.