Trump should meet with Main Street businessmen. They deserve it
Amidst his tariff and trade policy discussion, President Donald Trump took some time to meet with executives from some of the country's top retailers, from home improvement giants Home Depot and Lowe's to mass retailers Target and Walmart, to discuss the impact of trade policy on their businesses.
While big businesses, billionaires and Wall Street regularly get an audience with presidents, Main Street is too often left out.
The Trump administration has repeatedly said they want to be Main Street first. At the American Bankers Association's Washington Summit, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent notably said, "for the next four years, the Trump agenda is focused on Main Street. It's Main Street's turn. It's Main Street's turn to hire workers. It's Main Street's turn to drive investment, and it's Main Street's turn to restore the American Dream."
And, just as this administration opened up press briefings to include new media, the president should have a regular audience with members of the Main Street small business community.
Small business is big business for America, which is why it is often referred to as the backbone of the U.S. economy. Per Small Business Administration statistics, there are nearly 35 million small businesses, compared to less than 20,000 big businesses. Small businesses account for around half of the private economy and create the majority of new jobs.
However, as small businesses are spread out across geographies, demographics, industries and sizes, they don't garner as much attention in Washington. There are fantastic individual advocates as well as advocacy organizations like NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business), the S Corporation Association, the NSBA (National Small Business Association), the SBE Council (Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council) and many industry-specific organizations, among others, that should receive as many invitations to economic discussions as the bigger players.
Small businesses have been shouldering the fallout of government mandates for half a decade. First, state and local COVID-19 mandates shut down and negatively impacted millions of small businesses, for which the poorly designed PPP program did not fully compensate.
On the back of the COVID mandates, long-term disruptions occurred to supply chains and labor markets which further hurt small businesses. Then, historic inflation under the Biden administration put even more pressure on small businesses and their customers.
While small companies were optimistic for the Main Street-first Trump administration, expecting deregulation and tax certainty to help boost their business growth, millions of small businesses are instead fighting yet another government-imposed battle with tariffs.
Whether a small business has part or all of their supply chain abroad, has domestic suppliers with exposure to foreign supply chains or customers cutting back on spending and investment due to market and economic uncertainty, they are being hurt financially.
And while big companies like Apple were granted a temporary clawback in their tariff exposure, decreasing China-sourced tariffs for smartphones, computers and chips from 145% to 20%, millions of small businesses did not receive any relief. Apple has tens of billions of dollars in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet; small businesses do not have such balance sheet leverage.
While understanding the needs of companies like Apple and Walmart is important, it is just as important to understand the needs of small companies throughout the country.
Small businesses have been shouldering the fallout of government mandates for half a decade. First, state and local COVID-19 mandates shut down and negatively impacted millions of small businesses, for which the poorly designed PPP program did not fully compensate.
Small businesses do not have the ability to absorb massive costs due to major overnight policy changes.
In fact, almost all small businesses that I speak with want very little from the government except to be left to do their business without government interference. They want to exist on the same playing field as everyone else and not have government-imposed barriers, regulations and challenges put in their path at every turn.
To understand these challenges, President Trump should invite more small businesses and their advocates to the White House. If Main Street is going to thrive, it needs to start with small businesses, and that reality should grant small businesses a seat at the table.
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