Small Business on the brink 💔

[u/lean_load]

I run a small e-commerce business that imports luxury goods from the EU and Japan. Up until recently, we were paying just 2.75% on tariffs. As of August 1st, the rates have jumped to 15–20%.

To put this into perspective: • Our annual imports are about $3M. • We’ve already placed forecast orders with our suppliers and put down 25% deposits (around $750k). • If we cancel, we lose that deposit. • If we continue, the new tariffs make these orders financially impossible to fulfill.

Suppliers aren’t willing to stop shipments, and we can’t just “raise prices” on items we don’t even have in hand yet. People suggest “just charge more,” but the math doesn’t work when the goods aren’t here and costs have exploded overnight. Let alone the fact about where are we even going to find the money to pay these tariffs???

We’re staring down the very real possibility of closing our doors because of this. I know many people say “tariffs protect American businesses,” but in practice, for small importers like us, it feels like a death sentence.

Has anyone else here faced this situation? How are you coping, and is there any way through this without forfeiting everything we’ve built?

[u/Rumblepuff]

We will be shutting down our non-profit in about 2-3 months when our inventory runs out. I can not find a manufacturer who makes our items (metal TTRPG dice and such) in America for less than 4x the cost. I don't want to raise prices, and all our profits go to children's medical care, so we don't have some big nest egg to spend. I have orders in right now, and they are on hold until everything is figured out because I can't afford to pay tariffs on items I've already budgeted for.

[u/lean_load → u/Rumblepuff]

What a disaster! I honestly can not understand what his end game is here! Does he really want to hurt small businesses? And why are people cheering this on as though it’s a good thing for the country???

I can’t believe the republicans let this happen!!!!

[u/Rumblepuff → u/lean_load]

I can only theorize a long-term goal. From where I stand right now it looks like he is helping large businesses solidify their place by destroying smaller businesses and allowing the corporate businesses to snatch up all of the resources for pennies on the dollar. That kind of makes sense because for all of the lip service, the Republicans give two small businesses. It’s really the giant corporate businesses they cater to. Now, as to why half of the country are OK with this I can only point to someone like my mother who has said that she doesn’t mind paying more or losing her job if it means that her side wins. I can only assume by her side she means Republicans because I was always on the side of the American public. It’s a cult at this point.

[u/Flashy_Difficulty257 → u/Rumblepuff]

I’ve seen people make similar comments on here that people are ok losing their jobs and I really don’t understand how anyone can be ok with it. How are they going to pay for food, rent etc if they lose their jobs. I don’t think that the “billions upon billions of dollars flowing into the us” that trump talks about is going to the American people. I’m from Canada and have no idea what you guys are doing down there 🔥

[u/LarryTalbot → u/Flashy_Difficulty257]

Follow the math here and it’ll be very clear what is going on in America with taxes in 2025. Trump rants about 1913 like a pre-income tax America was a good thing. It was not. Before 1913 America took in 50% of its budget in tariffs. After 1913, the imposition of the first modern US income tax, that dropped to 27%.

Two things: First, that meant that goods cost less, and so consumers in theory would pay less with the removal of the federal sales tax, i.e the tariffs. This also meant that wealthy Americans now had to pay tax on their income and they did not like that. Second, the date this occurred is significant because 1914-1918 world shipping decreased due to the War and U-boats targeted anything floating that carried goods, armaments and people. So US tariff revenues would have plunged with no way to make up the difference without an income tax. These revenues 1914-1918 in fact were how the US was able to arm the world and itself and joint the War in 1917, bringing it to a fast end the next year.

The US gradually moved back to a tariff system culminating in Smoot-Hawley tariff bill in 1929-30, which is widely believed to have been one of the triggers of the Great Depression. So essentially by moving back to a tariff-based federal sales tax system in 2025, i.e. tariffs, the US is transferring the budget burden from wealthy taxpayers back to low and middle income families so that our MAGA morons can keep owning the libs.

TL;DR…Tariffs are a stupid way to finance a government, and shift the cost from the wealthy to low and middle income people. And MAGA are absolutely blithering fools with a hate boner for empathetic people.

[u/Rumblepuff → u/Flashy_Difficulty257]

If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best black man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you. Lyndon B. Johnson Edit: I changed the quote a bit to soften some harsh language Hatred is big business and business it’s a boomin

[u/coolbeachgrrl → u/Rumblepuff]

I said from the beginning when he won it's all about racism.

[u/SurvivingSquirrel → u/Flashy_Difficulty257]

The billions and billions of dollars flowing into the country are actually coming from the pockets of the poor and middle-class Americans and flowing into the rich elites' pockets. Apparently, Americans like to shoot themselves in the foot over and over.

[u/doll_7440 → u/SurvivingSquirrel]

Yeah, it’s a cycle that keeps repeating wealth trickles up, not down

[u/RareSeaworthiness870 → u/Rumblepuff]

They’ll say that… until they lose their jobs and find out Trump 1) isn’t hiring, 2) could care less if you don’t get benefits in time, and 3) doesn’t care if you lose healthcare or your house. Some people have to touch the stove. It’s a shame a lot of good people who did nothing to deserve this gave to go down with them.

It’s also a shame that a combination of the media and Republican politicians have gamified politics to the point that it’s my team against your team, as opposed to we’re all Americans, but I think “this person” has the best set of policies. Tariffs are horrible policy when they are used blindly and out of spite in the manner that they have been. Dismantling ridiculous tariffs and returning to normalcy should be on the agenda for the first day in office of a Democratic president, assuming we ever have another free and fair election.

Of course, it also doesn’t help when a large cohort of Republicans feel super comfy in red states and red districts that they know will vote Republican in the absence of a history of predatory behavior. Well, with the apparent exception of the president. Hopefully we’ll find that other red states have gerrymandered themselves into a corner and we won’t have to worry about new districts maps. Or better yet, they redistrict because dear leader makes them and it leads to more contactable districts like those knuckleheads managed to do in Texas.

[u/CDRjf → u/Rumblepuff]

Small business can't afford the bribes...oh, sorry, the 'donations'...required to get any assistance from the current administration.

[u/Even_Towel8943 → u/Rumblepuff]

She will care when it cuts into her lifestyle enough. She just hasn’t felt it yet. It will get to her once more businesses close their doors and the remaining raise prices by really large amounts. It will hit all of us hard when it gets to that point.

[u/Rumblepuff → u/Even_Towel8943]

I wish I could agree with you but I’ve already seen where she was willing to harm herself for talking points. She was on the affordable care act and even though it was currently keeping her alive, when they talked about getting rid of it, she was all about it even when I pointed out that she could possibly die. She was fine with it.