Tariffs hit local businesses in Northeast Ohio

 

Shockwaves are hitting the economy this year in response to the ongoing trade disputes initiated by the Trump Administration. Local manufacturers and business owners are feeling the trickle-down impact on many key products they import. 

“It’s a lot of like extra things now that I have to do to make up for not being able to get the other things,” said local artist & dice maker, Faith Burns.

Burns relies on raw materials like silicon to make handmade dice, and since the tariffs were initiated, she has been trying to sculpt products herself, which prolongs the production process. 

The Trump Administration first announced the sweeping global tariffs in April. They argue tariffs will bring back jobs they say left the country due to the free-trade agreements of the 1990s and 2000s. 

“The lack of stability this year, the chaos sort of at the federal government level has been, has made it tough for companies to, to know where they’re going next, to know what kind of, income they’re going to have,” said John Kelly, the Director of Business Development at the Tuscarawas County Economic Development Corp. 

Shipping costs are another side to the supply chain that’s preventing Burns from reaching the same customer base. Most of her sales came from Europe & Canada, but she has not gotten a single sale in those countries since. 

“I really do believe there is a connection there,” said Burns, who has now shifted her marketing to Etsy to get an extra boost since her sales have dropped. 

Burns is trying to avoid the price surges by handmaking some of the steps she used to source, but she said the time and resources to mold her pieces is not a sustainable practice. 

The Trump Administration’s “America First” trade policy is supposed  to create more domestic business and manufacturing, but since some of these industries haven’t taken root on U.S. soil yet, some unavoidable price surges are hitting local enterprises. 

At a local Kent coffee shop, sourcing coffee beans is driving up their costs, meaning they are passing a 5% fee on bags of coffee onto their customers. 

“It’s just a temporary band-aid, and that hardly covers the cost,” said Jonah Onuska, the cafe manager at Bent Tree Coffee.

Onuska explained that this is just one of the disruptions in the coffee industry, with many “big hitters” snatching up coffee beans on the lower end of the tariff spectrum, leaving many companies searching for other reasonable partners. Brazil, the world’s largest coffee bean supplier, has a tariff of up to 50%. 

“So taking it one day at a time, hoping to remove those fees as soon as we possibly can,” said Onuska, “And continuing to do the best for our customers that we can and source great coffees from all over the world regardless of the increased costs.”

While some of these locals are facing no other alternatives to maintain their business strategy, the Tuscarawas County Economic Development Corp. has seen some businesses gain a new customer base since it has become too expensive for companies to buy from China. 

“A chemical company said that the tariffs have also opened up other business opportunities because their Chinese competitors are not very competitive now with the tariffs,” said Kelly, “And so this chemical company here can, you know, build some new business because of the tariffs.” 

The global trade situation continues to evolve, making it challenging for business leaders to predict what to expect. 

“It’s just hard to know what the rules are right now, and they keep changing, said Kelly, “and it’s not been real stable this year.”