Small businesses push for exemptions from Trump tariffs

Small business owners are begging for relief from steep new U.S. tariffs on foreign goods, saying the higher import taxes imposed on dozens of key trading partners are threatening their livelihoods. 

Senator Ed Markey, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, said in a letter to the Small Business Administration (SBA) on Friday that smaller enterprises deserve exemptions from the Trump administration’s tariffs, which the Massachusetts Democrat criticized as “recklessly imposed.”

Markey also noted that the Trump administration has moved to shield corporate giants such as Apple and Google from the impact of some its trade policies, and he pressed the White House to protect small businesses. The U.S. earlier this month moved to exempt smartphones, computers and other high-tech products from the new tariffs, a boon to major tech manufacturers. 

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy, but because they operate on razor-thin margins, they are uniquely vulnerable to rising costs caused by the Trump Tariffs. These businesses simply do not have the financial cushion to absorb price shocks or the resources to navigate sudden changes to an already complex supply channel,” Markey wrote. 

Under President Trump, the U.S. has hiked tariffs on Chinese imports to as much as 145%, while products from most other countries are subject to 10% tariffs. Mr. Trump also announced steep “reciprocal tariffs” on dozens of U.S. trading partners, but earlier this month paused them for 90 days. 

Trump administration officials have defended the tariffs, saying they will protect the domestic manufacturing sector, foster economic growth as more companies shift their production to the U.S. and generate billions in federal revenue. 

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Isabel Guzman, former head of the SBA under President Biden and current chair of the Global Situation Room’s Global Risk Advisory Council, told CBS News that small businesses face tariff challenges “without the cash reserves that typically larger business may have, without the supply chain diversity that larger businesses may have.”

“So clearly their impact is going to be stronger, the short term pain is going to be much harder felt on all of them,” Guzman said. 

Some small business owners say tariffs are already having an adverse impact. Kristin Bear, founder of Kilo Brava, a U.S.-based lingerie company that makes its garments in China, recently told CBS MoneyWatch that the stepped up U.S. tariffs could force het to abandon a whole season’s worth of orders, equivalent to roughly $500,000.

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• Tariffs