Tariffs on Canada and Mexico will have a real, devastating impact on thousands of small businesses across the nation, and discussion of further tariffs on other countries is creating uncertainty.
Even those that can pass the cost of tariffs on to customers immediately say they are worried the added costs will impact their ability to remain competitive and profitable — or to grow.
Many small business are beginning to speak out about what tariffs mean to their businesses.
Here’s what they’re saying.
Voices of Small Businesses
“My company will feel an immediate, detrimental impact as a result of these tariffs. The threats and uncertainty have made it hard to make business decisions, and these kinds of tariffs will make it extremely difficult for small businesses like mine to grow.”
— Traci Tapani, co-president of Wyoming Machine, a sheet metal fabricator in Minnesota that purchases aluminum from Canada. Tapani serves as Vice-Chair of the U.S. Chamber’s Small Business Council.
"I'm afraid 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.”
— Yesi Noyola, owner, Kandy Queen Dulceria, North Richland Hills, Texas, to CBS Texas
“Ever since the announcement there was going to be tariffs on Mexico and Canada, we saw prices on all materials, including domestic materials, start to increase… we’re talking 75 cents or so on a case of any of our beverages being produced”
— Bill Baburek, Owner, Crescent Moon, Omaha, NE, to Omaha WOWT
Scrambling to Adapt
Small business owners say tariffs will impact their ability to grow and hire and are already making them less profitable.
“[Lumber] has already been getting more expensive over the past few years due to supply chain shocks and wildfires, and a huge proportion of our lumber comes from Canada. These tariffs are going to make everything we do considerably more expensive, at a time when the high-priced housing market and high interest rates are already cutting into our bottom line.”
— Bar Zakheim, Owner, Better Place Design & Build, San Diego, to The Baltimore Sun
“I can’t absorb the increased cost of a product”
— Michael Howard, owner, Howard Family Designs, Warren, Michigan, to the New York Times
“I’m very concerned. It’s just another tax. We’re getting taxed to death.”
— Dennis Percy, general manager of Fred’s Energy, whose trucks pick up energy in Canada and deliver it to customers in Northern Vermont, to The Boston Globe
“Small businesses run on very small margins. And so 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.”
— Sarah Payne, owner, Denver Concrete Vibrator, Denver, to the Associated Press
“I can’t figure out what is going to happen. I am on high alert.”
— Erica Campbell, owner, Be A Heart, Phoenix, to the New York Times
“People can’t pay more for stuff, and won’t pay more for items. ... Your items shrink to the point where you’re really going to evaluate if you’ll keep certain shops open.”
— Sarah Pitkin, owner of four hardware stores in Virginia, to the New York Times
“Is this going to affect our business? You bet it is. I don’t like what’s going on. And 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.”
— Linda Schlesinger-Wagner, owner, skinnytees, Birmingham, Michigan, to the Associated Press
'These policies have real consequences'
“New tariffs on Canada and Mexico put unnecessary pressure on Kentucky businesses and families. As a state that thrives on trade, we know firsthand how these policies disrupt supply chains, increase costs, and threaten jobs. We’ve seen it before—when Kentucky’s bourbon industry was hit by retaliatory tariffs, it lost nearly $600 million in exports. These policies have real consequences. We urge policymakers to support free enterprise and trade policies that allow Kentucky businesses to compete and grow. Our economy depends on it.”
— Ashli Watts, president and CEO, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
See the State-by-State Impact
Impact on Americans
While the U.S. Chamber shares concerns about border security and the scourge of fentanyl, unfair trading practices, tariffs on Canada and Mexico won't solve those problems and instead would lead to higher prices for Americans.
"The bottom line is this: tariffs are a tax paid by Americans and their broad and indiscriminate use would stifle growth at the worst possible time," Chamber President and CEO Suzanne P. Clark said in her annual State of American Business address. She stressed that to boost economic growth, America must participate in the global economy. That includes seizing opportunities to increase trade.
In 2024, the Chamber unveiled the Growth and Opportunity Imperative for America, an initiative to urge policymakers to focus on a goal of 3% annual real economic growth, which will raise wages for workers and create new opportunities for Americans to reach their dreams.
