I purchased a new hedge clipper, made in China.

A week before the tariffs, I would have paid $150 for it.

But Walmart (an American company) had to pay tariff prices when they imported it.

So because I waited, I paid $215 for the same damn hedge clipper.

Economist have told you, businessmen have told you, hell, even Costco has told you it is the American importers that pays the tariffs. Why in the hell, would you believe Trump over all of those ‘experts’.

In fact, Costco has a lawsuit against the government. If the Supreme Court, overturns Trump’s tariffs, Costco has already said they want ‘their’ money back. Not China’s money back, but Costco’s money back!

Kind of proves that the importer pays the tariff. Why don’t you know this by now!

I own a small business. Some of my products – which were normally priced very competitively – came from England. Before Trump’s tariff scam I was able to offer these products to my customers at a modest mark-up to eek out a small profit (maybe 15% margin), while still offering them a decent value vs similar items manufactured here in the U.S.

Once the tariffs were imposed something happened – when the products arived in the U.S. I started getting bills from the shipping company. On products that cost me around $900 the bill could be upwards of $250 for the tariff in order for the product to be released to me or my customers. I had to pay those costs and pass them on to my customers in order to make any sort of profit at all.

Let me make this crystal clear: I – as an American citizen and business owner – had to pay the tariff in order to get the products into the country, and I had to pass that cost on to my customers, meaning ultimately my U.S. customers paid the tariff.

Since the tariffs, I’m basically on the verge of closing my small business. I’ve had to severly limit my offerings to just a few items, and even the items that I still offer, I’ve had to raise prices on because some of the parts that make up the overall products I offer come from overseas. Trump’s tariffs have basically killed my small business.

Sure, it would be great to buy these products in the U.S. but similar products that are manufactured here cost 2x to 3x more than what I was paying for similar items shipped from the UK before tariffs.