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Axios
03-08-2025
- Business
- Axios
The tariffs that stole Christmas
The Christmas business is typically pretty cheerful, but not this year: Companies that import and sell Christmas trees, twinkling lights and other holiday decorations say they've been hammered by tariffs. Why it matters: You'll likely pay more for holiday supplies, and have fewer products to choose from — industry leaders are even warning about possible shortages. "There's no question that it will be harder to find the exact tree and decor that that you want this year, and it'll be more expensive," says Jami Warner, executive director of the American Christmas Tree Association. Where it stands: Christmas executives (yes, that's a thing) have had to be real Scrooges since President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs. They've laid off workers, canceled or cut back imports, and raised prices to deal with higher import taxes — and they're still waiting to see where tariffs wind up. "It's like lack of sleep, absolute anxiety fest all the time — ulcers. I mean, it's just awful," says Jared Hendricks CEO of Village Lighting Company, which sells Christmas lighting and decorations. Hendricks says he has a loan of about $1 million, backed by his house, that he may need to tap to pay tariffs to bring product into the country. Shipments are still coming overseas, delayed after he canceled everything in the wake of the 145% tariff rate that was briefly in effect on China this spring. Catch up fast: The White House backed off triple-digit China tariffs, but they're still highat 30% — and could go higher yet. To afford these fees, companies are importing less. "Everyone is ordering less," says Dan Casterella, CEO of American Christmas, a holiday decorating business (they do Rockefeller Center and other major displays). "I'm getting emails weekly from factories in China with people who have canceled orders or companies that have gone out of business asking us to buy product," he says, noting that he has let go 20% of his full-time staff, about 100 people, to make up for tariff costs. By the numbers: Prices overall for Christmas decor could be 15 to 20% higher, according to interviews with executives in the industry and the American Christmas Tree Association. Certain items might be harder to find. "There are whole categories of trees that we may not have, or we have really small quantities of," says Mac Harman, founder of Balsam Hill, which primarily sells artificial trees. "Eventually, we'll get to a point where we may not have any trees." The intrigue: It's not totally clear that consumers will see all these price increases. The smaller importers say they're being pressured to absorb much of these costs. " Our big-box customers are telling us, 'we've promised that we're not going to raise prices, so you guys have to eat it,' " Hendricks says. Reality check: Plenty of folks have their ornaments and trees safely stored away for re-use every year. And beyond decor, stores will still be stocked with stuff you can buy for friends and family.
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US companies up against 'nightmare' tariff wall
Donald Trump took the trade world by storm when he returned to office, announcing new and higher tariffs on imports, starting with goods from China and quickly spreading to almost every country in the world. As the confusion from the threats, negotiations, climb-downs and carve-outs starts to clear, a new economic landscape is emerging. Trump is building a steep, and often expensive, wall of tariffs, the likes of which has not existed in the US for more than a century. "It's been an absolute nightmare," said Jared Hendricks, owner of the Utah-based Village Lighting Company, who took out a $1.5m (£1.1m) loan backed by his home earlier this year to cover the unexpected jump in his costs. Since April, most goods coming into the US have faced taxes of at least 10%. The pause on some of Trump's plans to levy even higher tariffs is now coming to an end, and larger taxes are set to start on 1 August. Six things that may cost Americans more after Trump's tariffs Who are the winners and losers in US-EU trade deal? Faisal Islam: Trump's tough tariff tactics are getting results In recent weeks, Trump has sent letters to some countries outlining his planned tariffs on goods from their countries. He has also reached agreements, described as "frameworks", with major trading partners, including the European Union and Japan, that leave key issues unresolved while establishing levies that were once unthinkable. In general, goods coming into the US are to be taxed 10% to 50%, depending on their origin, compared to an average tariff rate of less than 2.5% at the start of the year. Though Trump has dropped some of his most extreme threats, his plans still represent a "dramatic shift", one poised to be "significantly disruptive", said Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. "We're definitely in a tariff world," she said. Trump said the measures - delivering on a top campaign promise - have been "unbelievable". They are bringing back US manufacturing, he said, opening up overseas markets and raising money for the US government - which has already collected more than $100bn in tariff revenue this fiscal year, a record. He is also using them to push other countries on a range of non-trade issues, including military spending and social media. "We have the hottest country of anywhere in the world," he said recently. Mr Hendricks, who employs about a dozen people, though, said the new levies had created a range of challenges for his business selling Christmas lights and decor mostly made in southeast Asia. He is expecting many of his shipments to arrive after 1 August. He struggled to compete with bigger players also pressing suppliers and shipping firms to deliver before the deadline. The new costs hit during the off-season, when he has little money coming in. Trump says US may not reach trade deal with Canada How are trade deals actually negotiated? "A hundred billion dollars in tariffs and they're celebrating that?" he said. "That's on the backs of people like me that are now trying to figure out how to pay payroll." Larger businesses, too, say the tariffs already are hurting their bottom lines, even though the White House has granted some exemptions and the full plans have yet to come into force. General Motors recently told investors it paid more than $1bn in tariffs from the beginning of April through the end of June, despite carve-outs for car parts from Mexico and Canada. Tesla spent an extra $300m. Toymakers Hasbro and Mattel expect tariffs to cost tens of millions this year and have reduced their sales forecasts, while aerospace manufacturer RTX, formerly Raytheon, said the measures would cost it $500m, after mitigation efforts. Executives in some industries, like steel, say the new protections will boost domestic demand for their products. Labor unions have backed parts of Trump's plans, too. But economists still expect the levies to lead to slower growth in the US, as company profits take a hit. Firms must then cut back on investing or risk hurting sales by raising prices, or both. Waza, a Los Angeles shop that employs about 30 people in the US selling Japanese-made products like kitchen knives and incense, has already started raising prices 10% to 20%. Executive Vice-President Anri Seki said sales were holding up and, after months of uncertainty, she hoped the business would be able to move forward. But the back-and-forth has pushed the firm to consider looking outside the US to expand. They made America's clothing. Now they are getting punished for it. The US-EU trade deal in numbers - how it compares to UK deal Despite efforts in Japan and the US to sell a deal on a 15% tariff as positive, she said the outcome was disappointing. "It just feels unfair," she said. "It's really hard for everyone to see what is the good ending point." Recently, Goldman Sachs analysts estimated the tariffs would lower US growth by 1 percentage point this year. Still, shares in the US have soared to new highs, as fears that gripped financial markets after Trump's so-called Liberation Day tariff announcement in April have abated. Consumer confidence has picked up, prices have remained contained and the job market is still chugging. Some of that is from earlier uncertainty being resolved, said Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at the Budget Lab at Yale University, who predicts the levies will shave about 0.8 percentage points off growth this year. "There is a vast valley between 'good' and 'recession'," he said. "There's this middle ground of 'not great'...And I think that is what we're looking at with tariffs." But Tim Quinlan, senior economist at Wells Fargo, said people may be underestimating risks. Consumer spending on discretionary services, like taxi rides or air travel, slipped in the first five months of the year – something that has only happened during or immediately after recessions, he noted. He said that did not necessarily mean "a recession is around the corner", but cautioned it had "raised doubts about the ability of the consumer to continue to underpin the economy". With stockpiles of goods that pre-date the tariffs dwindling and 1 August looming, the full effects of the measures will be felt in months ahead. "People have sort of moved on, but now they're going to be reinstated in August it's going to be right back where we were," said Julie Robbins, chief executive of Earthquaker Devices, an Ohio-based manufacturer of guitar pedals. The business, which employs about 34 people, has held off hiring and delayed purchases this year, as its profits erode and costs climb. It plans to raise prices, but isn't sure how much. Already, sales outside the US – about 40% of the business – have dropped, which Ms Robbins attributes to backlash against Americans, at least partly over tariffs. "I view the tariffs and the current trade war policy as the largest threat to our business," she said. "There are so many ways this could go sideways."
BBC News
29-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'Nightmare' tariff wall emerges for US companies
Donald Trump took the trade world by storm when he returned to office, announcing new and higher tariffs on imports, starting with goods from China and quickly spreading to almost every country in the the confusion from the threats, negotiations, climb-downs and carve-outs starts to clear, a new economic landscape is emerging. Trump is building a steep, and often expensive, wall of tariffs, the likes of which has not existed in the US for more than a century."It's been an absolute nightmare," said Jared Hendricks, owner of the Utah-based Village Lighting Company, who took out a $1.5m (£1.1m) loan backed by his home earlier this year to cover the unexpected jump in his April, most goods coming into the US have faced taxes of at least 10%. The pause on some of Trump's plans to levy even higher tariffs is now coming to an end, and larger taxes are set to start on 1 things that may cost Americans more after Trump's tariffsWho are the winners and losers in US-EU trade deal?Faisal Islam: Trump's tough tariff tactics are getting resultsIn recent weeks, Trump has sent letters to some countries outlining his planned tariffs on goods from their countries. He has also reached agreements, described as "frameworks", with major trading partners, including the European Union and Japan, that leave key issues unresolved while establishing levies that were once general, goods coming into the US are to be taxed 10% to 50%, depending on their origin, compared to an average tariff rate of less than 2.5% at the start of the Trump has dropped some of his most extreme threats, his plans still represent a "dramatic shift", one poised to be "significantly disruptive", said Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute."We're definitely in a tariff world," she said the measures - delivering on a top campaign promise - have been "unbelievable".They are bringing back US manufacturing, he said, opening up overseas markets and raising money for the US government - which has already collected more than $100bn in tariff revenue this fiscal year, a record. He is also using them to push other countries on a range of non-trade issues, including military spending and social media."We have the hottest country of anywhere in the world," he said recently. Mr Hendricks, who employs about a dozen people, though, said the new levies had created a range of challenges for his business selling Christmas lights and decor mostly made in southeast is expecting many of his shipments to arrive after 1 August. He struggled to compete with bigger players also pressing suppliers and shipping firms to deliver before the deadline. The new costs hit during the off-season, when he has little money coming says US may not reach trade deal with CanadaHow are trade deals actually negotiated? "A hundred billion dollars in tariffs and they're celebrating that?" he said. "That's on the backs of people like me that are now trying to figure out how to pay payroll."Larger businesses, too, say the tariffs already are hurting their bottom lines, even though the White House has granted some exemptions and the full plans have yet to come into Motors recently told investors it paid more than $1bn in tariffs from the beginning of April through the end of June, despite carve-outs for car parts from Mexico and Canada. Tesla spent an extra $ Hasbro and Mattel expect tariffs to cost tens of millions this year and have reduced their sales forecasts, while aerospace manufacturer RTX, formerly Raytheon, said the measures would cost it $500m, after mitigation efforts. Executives in some industries, like steel, say the new protections will boost domestic demand for their products. Labor unions have backed parts of Trump's plans, economists still expect the levies to lead to slower growth in the US, as company profits take a hit. Firms must then cut back on investing or risk hurting sales by raising prices, or a Los Angeles shop that employs about 30 people in the US selling Japanese-made products like kitchen knives and incense, has already started raising prices 10% to 20%.Executive Vice-President Anri Seki said sales were holding up and, after months of uncertainty, she hoped the business would be able to move the back-and-forth has pushed the firm to consider looking outside the US to made America's clothing. Now they are getting punished for US-EU trade deal in numbers - how it compares to UK dealDespite efforts in Japan and the US to sell a deal on a 15% tariff as positive, she said the outcome was disappointing."It just feels unfair," she said. "It's really hard for everyone to see what is the good ending point."Recently, Goldman Sachs analysts estimated the tariffs would lower US growth by 1 percentage point this shares in the US have soared to new highs, as fears that gripped financial markets after Trump's so-called Liberation Day tariff announcement in April have confidence has picked up, prices have remained contained and the job market is still of that is from earlier uncertainty being resolved, said Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at the Budget Lab at Yale University, who predicts the levies will shave about 0.8 percentage points off growth this year."There is a vast valley between 'good' and 'recession'," he said. "There's this middle ground of 'not great'...And I think that is what we're looking at with tariffs."But Tim Quinlan, senior economist at Wells Fargo, said people may be underestimating risks. Consumer spending on discretionary services, like taxi rides or air travel, slipped in the first five months of the year – something that has only happened during or immediately after recessions, he said that did not necessarily mean "a recession is around the corner", but cautioned it had "raised doubts about the ability of the consumer to continue to underpin the economy". With stockpiles of goods that pre-date the tariffs dwindling and 1 August looming, the full effects of the measures will be felt in months ahead."People have sort of moved on, but now they're going to be reinstated in August it's going to be right back where we were," said Julie Robbins, chief executive of Earthquaker Devices, an Ohio-based manufacturer of guitar business, which employs about 34 people, has held off hiring and delayed purchases this year, as its profits erode and costs climb. It plans to raise prices, but isn't sure how sales outside the US – about 40% of the business – have dropped, which Ms Robbins attributes to backlash against Americans, at least partly over tariffs."I view the tariffs and the current trade war policy as the largest threat to our business," she said. "There are so many ways this could go sideways."
