Latest news with #CutsClothing
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Donald Trump-Loving CEO Makes Desperate Plea To President On CNN
Steven Borrelli, the Donald Trump-supporting CEO of Cuts Clothing, begged live on CNN on Monday for the president to just tell small businesses his plan when it comes to his trade policies — and then give them more time to adapt to them. Otherwise, Borrelli told 'The Lead' anchor Jake Tapper, Trump's tariffs could risk extinction for many companies across America. Borelli, who voted three times for Trump, said his California-based e-commerce business (which imports the products it sells in the U.S. from China, via Mexico) had been hit hard by the president's tariffs and the uncertainty surrounding their on-off-on-off nature. The businessman didn't disagree with Trump's aim of bringing manufacturing back to the United States, he said, but warned 'the speed' with which Trump was trying to force businesses to do so made it 'very difficult' for them to react. Tapper suggested Borelli directly address Trump, who boasted on launching the tariffs that foreign countries would be desperate to cut deals with the U.S. To date, no deals have been struck. Borelli agreed to issue a message to Trump, saying: 'President Trump, as a longtime supporter of your mission and to 'Make America Great Again,' I want to be a part of that with you, but e-commerce companies all across the United States, we need more time. Give us a 90-day off ramp to get off of our China goods and just tell us the plan. If you tell us the plan, we can operate and we can know what to do. The hard part about everything that's happening right now is we're trying to manage our businesses from day to day and that's very difficult. And a lot of small businesses, they don't have the cash flow to get through a 90-day negotiation and it's going to devastate a lot of businesses like Cuts.' Watch the interview here: Related...
The Guardian
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘Very problematic': US apparel bosses say Trump's tariffs will hurt Americans
Across the US, many executives leading apparel and textiles businesses are scratching their heads. Tariffs of 145% on goods from China, and tariffs of 10% on goods from much of the rest of the world, have been billed by the White House as a once-in-a-generation efffort to boost domestic manufacturing. The size of Trump's tariffs are in flux. This week, the president suggested he could cut the tariffs on China 'substantially' – the Wall Street Journal reported the cuts could bring rates down to 50% and 65%. But business leaders who spoke to the Guardian warned tariffs were unlikely to achieve Trump's stated aim of bringing more manufacturing back to the US and that businesses would fail as a result of the hikes. Steven Borrelli, founder of fashion brand Cuts Clothing, voted for Donald Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024. He backs the US president's controversial plan to use sweeping tariffs on imports to boost the economy. But he also wants a rethink. 'He's pro-business, and I don't believe he wants to hurt American jobs,' Borelli said in an interview. 'We're onboard for this plan – just give us more time,' he added. 'We just want more time with any policy changes to adjust, to not destroy our business in the meantime.' 'Every day this continues, more businesses will fail,' he warned last week in a public plea to Trump on X, formerly Twitter, calling for a delay of up to a year. 'I trust him to do the right thing,' Borelli said. 'I just hope he knows he needs to do it fast.' The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Borelli's plea. Entrepreneur Todd Shelton runs an eponymous fashion brand with a factory in East Rutherford, New Jersey. While the firm makes its clothes in the US, 100% of the material it uses is sourced from overseas, meaning higher duties and higher costs. This dilemma is not unique in the industry, according to Shelton. 'All competitors are exposed to it,' he said. 'It will create price increases for the customer. There's nothing that can be done about it.' 'This is truly going to be inflationary, and will do nothing to bring back jobs,' said Nate Herman, senior vice-president for policy at the American Apparel & Footwear Association. He noted tariffs had been raised across the board: not only on finished clothes from overseas, but key supplies for companies making clothes inside the US, including yarns, fabrics, buttons and zippers. 'You're hurting the very manufacturers you're supposedly trying to help here,' he said. Ultimately, this will hit consumers, added Herman. 'All you're doing is hurting American families [shopping] for a necessity,' he said. 'Everybody needs to wear clothes and shoes.' Prices will 'inevitably' increase if tariffs remain in place, said Lance Ruttenberg, who runs American Textile Company, a leading bedding manufacturer based in Duquesne, Pennsylvania. 'Across every single industry, it's hard to think of an industry where prices won't need to increase. 'I don't think this is sophisticated economics,' he added. 'The price of inputs is going up. That will change the pricing dynamics of all the goods that are affected by them.' About 30% of the supply chain of American Textile Company is in China. The new steep US tariffs on Chinese exports mean it 'is not possible' for the firm to buy what it typically sources from the country, Ruttenberg said in an interview. 'When that inventory runs down, we will be in no position to replenish them.' The company was 'bracing for a significant reduction in our ability to run our manufacturing facilities', he added, unless the tariffs are scrapped or lowered. 'You lose the revenue, you lose the manufacturing, and then consequently, you lose people. Eventually, it's very problematic.' Even before the tariffs were enforced this month, let alone reached customers in the form of price increases, companies say they were already having an impact on demand. 'We've certainly felt it in the form of customer confidence – just the chaos that it's caused,' said Shelton. 'That started in March. Our customers started to understand that something was happening. That led to this uncertainty.' Few in the industry believe tariffs can swiftly revive US manufacturing, as Trump and his officials have suggested. And they fear other policies advanced by the administration will actively hinder the domestic apparel sector's growth. US clothing factories struggle to attract American workers. Firms put this down to a lack of vocational training for young people – something they fear is likely to get worse as Trump moves to dismantle the Department of Education. While the industry has increasingly sought to alleviate labor shortages by hiring workers from overseas, some operators are concerned that this could be undermined by Trump's crackdown on immigration. 'While I appreciate and love the idea of Americans at work – who wouldn't support this? – in our particular world, we don't believe there are any people who aspire to do the kind of jobs we now rely on from the far east,' said Ruttenberg. 'I don't know what jobs the administration wants to bring back that have left,' he added. 'But I'm pretty confident that the jobs in the textile space are not the jobs they are trying to fill. If they are, we're in big trouble.'
