It's pretty rare for one person to do one thing that affects nearly every business in the United States. But that's the power of the presidency and the new tariffs that took effect this week. Over the last few days, as the tariffs have gone up and down, NPR has been talking to Americans who run different kinds of businesses. Even though their companies don't have much in common, all of them are doing the same thing right now: Trying to figure out what's going on and how to respond. Trump's tariff plans affect nearly every company in America. We'll hear from a few business owners about what it means for themFor sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: How are tariffs affecting American businesses?
One way to tell the story of a trade war is through a curved piece of silicone called the frywall.
Frywall keeps the sizzle in the pan and the splatter off of you and your stovetop.
That is the inventor of the frywall, Yair Reiner, on Shark Tank back in 2018. Reiner priced out what it would cost for him to produce his invention in the U.S. and figured to turn a profit, he'd have to sell a made-in-the-USA frywall for about 80 bucks.
You know, it's really hard to sell a splatter guard for that much money.
Even the best splatter guard in the world is not going to sell for $80.
Precisely. It is the best splatter guard in the world, but splatter just is not as important as other things.
So he makes it in China, which allows him to sell it for about $25. And he says that money gets spread around to many parts of the U.S. economy.
It goes to the U.S. Postal Service, which provides my quote-unquote free shipping. If I sell on Amazon, it goes to Amazon. It has to pay its warehouse workers. I also have to pay my patent attorney so that my patent is protected and I can't get ripped off. It has to go to PR. It has to go to marketing. It has to go to the software firms that I use to operate and run my business.
But now President Trump has put a 145 percent tariff on goods from China. At least that's the number as we record this Thursday afternoon. It's been a moving target.
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Chapter 2: What challenges does Yair Reiner face due to tariffs?
And there are a lot of Yair Reiners out there. Business owners riding the roller coaster as Trump's tariffs have been rolled out, ratcheted up, and partially walked back. We're going to have to scale back a lot of innovation.
We just noticed our first invoice had a tariff line on it.
I have hopes that tariffs will help us, but that can't be the end game.
Consider this. Trump's tariff plans affect nearly every company in America. We'll hear from a few business owners about what it means for them. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro.
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It's Consider This from NPR. Lisa Winton runs exactly the type of business that the Trump administration says its tariffs are supposed to help.
I'm a small manufacturer in Georgia, and I produce machinery.
Winton Machine Company makes metal parts that go into everything from refrigerators to lawn chairs. And most of the company's supply chain is in the U.S. But some of Lisa Winton's distributors get their parts from China, and they've started passing along the cost of tariffs to her.
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