09-05-2025
Minnesota small businesses struggling to "survive the tariff crisis"
Import taxes on Chinese goods are up to 145%. As trade talks are on the horizon. Minnesota-made companies are feeling the pressure.
Marissa Held-Nordling spends a lot of time in front of her sewing machine, creating children's clothing and bows for her small business, Little Roos children's boutique in Chaska, Minnesota.
"After my kids go to bed, I sometimes sew for another two to three hours," Held-Nordling said.
While each piece is designed and stitched in Chaska, most of her raw materials come from China.
"On top of the inflation, and then being hit with the tariffs, it's definitely been a big blow to small businesses like mine," she said.
Little Roos avoided the 145% tax increase until this month, falling under an umbrella of exemptions under $800.
"I ordered through our Fourth of July fabrics. After that, everything's kind of up in the air," she said.
Left to right: Little Roos' Marissa Held-Nordling, and Busy Baby's Beth Benike
WCCO
Held-Nordling says it's not just her business taking the blow. It's also impacting community partners, Minnesota makers and authors she supplies in her store front.
"There's going to be a big gap of empty shelves, for sure," she said. "I mean, vendors have already told me that that's going to happen."
Vendors like Busy Baby, a Zumbrota-based company that relies on manufacturing overseas. Beth Benike, Minnesota's 2025 Business Person of the Year, runs Busy Baby.
"I have maybe two months worth left in my warehouse in Minnesota, and when that's gone, I have no more revenue," Benike said.
She's turning to lawmakers in Washington D.C. and crowdfunding to help "survive the tariff crisis."
Both entrepreneurs are working through challenges they can't control.
"I'm just really hoping that this gets worked out to the point where in six weeks, I'm not going to have to deal with a decision of what we're gonna do," Held-Nordling said.
Trade talks between the U.S. and China will pick back up on Saturday.
