21-04-2025
‘It screws with all of us.' Tacoma small businesses react to tariff uncertainty
At a business roundtable on Wednesday focused on the effects of widespread tariffs on local trade, one factor was expressed repeatedly.
Small businesses are taking huge hits.
A February 2025 survey conducted by the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce found that 76% of respondents expected challenges due to tariffs, and almost 40% were already actively adjusting supply chains.
Those who employed 1-5 workers made up 45% of respondents, and 51% of respondents shared that they rely on trade for over 11% of their revenue.
When U.S. Sen. Patty Murray visited Tacoma for Wednesday's roundtable held at candymaker Brown & Haley's facility, the leader of the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County emphasized to the group how 'predictability drives competitiveness.'
Michael Catsi, president & CEO of the EDB, added that 'businesses need a stable environment to make smart decisions about sourcing materials, negotiating contracts and investing in capacity.'
That predictability so far has been elusive, according to three separate business owners who shared their own tariff stories with The News Tribune.
For Kyle Willingham, owner of Naomi Joe Coffee Roasters in Tacoma, the coffee market has become 'a hot mess.'
As he explained in a phone interview Friday, there are two primary coffee trade markets, commodity (think lower-cost store brands) and specialty.
Willingham, as a local roaster, buys from the specialty growers market. He said for now, he's turned off the noise of the daily news cycle when it comes to purchasing decisions.
He described recent dealings with a new wholesale client. Willingham wanted to make sure he could lock in a reasonable price for a contract.
And then, an initial round of tariff hikes with Mexico was announced by the Trump administration, and 'all this chaos kind of started happening,' Willingham said.
'So I scare-bought a bunch of coffee with capital that I had been saving up for something else to ensure that the pricing for this client would stay the same, at least initially, while we figure out what's going to happen here in this country,' he said.
'Then I wake up the next day, and it's like, 'Just kidding, we're not doing that,'' he said. 'I'm not even trying to really pay attention to the tariff news, because I just can't afford to let the scare tactics affect my buying decisions.'
The loss of a Canadian market also has hit home for business growth.
'In Canada, they all rallied together, and it's no joke,' he said. 'They ripped all U.S. stuff out of the stores. And I was really hoping to tap into the Canadian market this year, and there's just no way. They would be, like, 'Are you serious?'
'Even though it's a product that maybe they would have wanted,' he continued. 'Now, it doesn't matter. It's personal. It's not personal to me, but it's personal to their economy. They would not allow my product to be sold inside their store when they could support a Canadian business instead.'
He noted the uncertainty on the U.S. side on how small businesses will get through the current situation stands in stark contrast with our neighbors to the north.
'When Trump did that to Canada, the Canadian government had meetings, came together, came with a plan for Canada and all of their people,' he said. 'It felt like they really rallied to come through to make sure that the Canadian businesses were going to be as strong as possible.'
He's not seen the same supportive-elbows-up rally here. As he pointed out, U.S. grocers aren't exactly pulling competitors off the shelves to strengthen the positions of domestic vendors.
He thinks the on-again, off-again indecision surrounding the Trump administration's handling of the tariffs is partly to blame for a lack of national rallying to support small local businesses.
'I mean, they're changing their minds daily instead of committing to something,' he said.
'But it screws with all of us,' he said. 'I have four employees, and two of them have families. And I need to make sure the show keeps going on.'
Willingham said that for now, pricing would stay the same, 'and I'm trying to not let the day-to-day news impact my business decisions, and then we'll see what happens when I need to resupply.'
Jennifer Luna owns The Curious Bear in Fircrest, first profiled by The News Tribune when it opened in 2018.
She is also a member of the National Retail Federation and recently joined other small business owners to speak with members of Congress about tariff impacts.
'With 80% of toys manufactured in China, we're already experiencing 10–20% price increases and added tariff surcharges from our vendors,' she told The News Tribune via email.
China has received the largest of what the Trump administration has called its 'reciprocal' tariffs, with a 145% tariff rate on items imported from China, which the White House said last week was actually 245% for some goods when previous tariffs are included in the rate.
China has hit back with a 125% tariff on items imported from the United States and called the 245% rate a 'meaningless tariff numbers game.'
Luna told The News Tribune via email that 'As current U.S. inventory levels begin to run low over the next month or two, I expect to see even steeper price hikes — and the outright unavailability of many products, which could leave our shelves empty.'
She wrote that she strongly feels that 'small businesses are going to become the collateral damage of these tariffs and many will close.
'We don't have 2+ years to wait for manufacturing to move to the U.S. And it is unrealistic that toys would be at the top of the list of new manufacturing to start building,' she added.
Stephanie Lollar is one of the owners of Lollar Guitars Inc., which does business as Lollar Pickups in Tacoma. The company specializes in the manufacturing of pickups for electric and steel guitars and bass, plus custom parts for a global customer base.
In response to questions, Lollar told The News Tribune via email that 'We previously did quite a bit of sales to Canadians, which has been almost nonexistent the past two months.'
She wrote that 'We manufacture electric guitar pickups that we sell to guitar builders, guitar players and music stores all over the world. Not only have we had several large-value customer orders put on hold because of the tariffs, but we are also facing large increases in costs.'
A key issue, as she explained, is that guitar pickups are made of magnets and wire.
'Our magnets are purchased from a U.S. company that produces magnets in China,' she wrote. 'Even the one company that makes magnets in the U.S. sources their materials from China.'
Her incoming order of magnets is set to have the 145% tariff applied, 'and (we) have been told we were lucky to have gotten it shipped before the Chinese government banned the sale of rare earth minerals to the U.S. That may include the magnets used to make our products.
'We are currently waiting to find out more,' Lollar added.
Many of Lollar's vendors who manufacture in the U.S. buy materials from elsewhere, she noted, with China, Germany and Canada serving as three of the principal suppliers of such materials.
'We are a small company; we support 29 families,' she added. 'Between current events and the additional costs of doing business in Tacoma, it's getting tougher to provide for our employees in the way we feel a company should.'
