President-elect Donald Trump is wasting little time affirming that tariffs will be a Day One priority. With his inauguration less than two months away, small businesses are already making moves to avoid expected cost increases — or weighing whether to take a financial hit or pass it on to customers. On Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he plans to implement 25% tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada, plus an additional 10% tariff on goods from China.
Chua manufactures her signature product, a travel journal, in China — whose exports Trump has threatened to hit with 60% tariffs. Chua said that until she spoke with NBC News last week, before Trump’s recent announcement, she didn’t realize he wanted such high levies on Chinese goods. “It would be the nail in the coffin for us,” she said. “Sixty percent is horrifying.