Chocolate lovers may see sticker shock due to Trump's tariff tactics

Yahoo

18-04-2025

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Chocolate lovers may be in for a bit of sticker shock next time their sweet tooth calls.
As President Donald Trump's tariffs impact industries across the nation, from car dealers to farmers, the price of chocolate is also increasing.
'It's been intense,' Lisa Boyle, owner of the Chocolate Cafe in Columbus, said.
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Boyle said that at first, the price of eggs started going up because of the bird flu.
'They were affected not by $5, $10; it literally was a case went from $40 to $120,' she said.
Once she was able to get a handle on those prices, tariffs hit and the price of buying chocolate in bulk went up 35%.
'The name of this business is Chocolate Cafe, so it's like — is it temporary? Is it not? Nobody knows,' Boyle said.
Boyle said the price hikes go beyond her business' bottom line; it is about balancing how much people are willing to pay with sustaining her business.
'You, maybe, raise 50 cents or just a dollar,' she said. 'It's better to sell it than to not sell it at all. It weighs on your brain, without a doubt.'
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While businesses from chocolate stores to car dealerships and farmers work through this, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) continues defending Trump's tariff tactics.
'Reciprocity,' Moreno said. 'We're going to do business with any country, whether its Canada, Mexico, India, the European Union, you name it, if they tariff us, we're going to tariff them.'
Moreno said the long-term benefits to the country will outweigh what Ohioans may be feeling right now.
'We're going to have fair and reciprocal trade, which is what President Trump wants,' he said.
'I am used to peaks and valleys, but this one, I'm thinking 'I have no clue,'' Boyle said.
State leaders like Ohio Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) agreed with Moreno and said it's about the bigger picture.
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'We have been getting taken advantage of in the trade imbalances we have been seeing in this country,' McColley said. 'I do support what President Trump is doing at the end of the day.'
As businesses hope for some sort of predictability, even state leaders are not sure that it will come any time soon.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the tariffs could impact how much money the state has to spend in its two-year operating budget, which is being worked on right now.
'Well, certainly our budget always depends on how much money is coming in,' DeWine said. 'Unlike the federal government, we have to actually balance our budget, which we think is a good thing and so, if we have a downturn in the economy, if that's what happens, then certainly that is going to impact our budget.'
Ohio House leaders said they are going to focus on working with the information they have one day at a time.
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'I know a lot of the tariffs that President Trump put on in his first term, they started off and then they started making exceptions, so it may change next week, it may change six months from now,' Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said.
'The tariffs definitely have an impact, as we see businesses start to scale back, that means that people are losing jobs, businesses are struggling to get their goods sold and making money and all of that has an impact on our state revenue that comes in,' Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said.
The state will know how well the economy is fairing in mid-June and what all can actually be spent in the budget. Overall, though, DeWine said he is confident that the state will fare well.
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