Michigan manufacturer warns Trump tariffs threaten small business survival
The impact of President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs became reality for American businesses on Thursday, as dozens of countries faced levies ranging from 15% to 41% on goods entering the United States.
For Carrin Harris, CEO of Michigan-based manufacturing company Blitz Proto, the tariffs have already created significant challenges. Her company, which makes prototypes for products including toys, medical devices and car parts, has been grappling with rising costs since January.
"A lot of our quotes are no longer good because the cost of components continues to go up, and it's volatile, and we can't even anticipate it," Harris told ABC News on Thursday.
The new tariffs affected more than 90 trading partners, with some nations facing particularly steep increases. Brazil, for instance, received a 50% tariff on its coffee exports to the U.S. The Yale Budget Lab estimated these new trade policies could cost the average American household an additional $2,400 annually.
Harris explained that the uncertainty forced her company to dramatically shorten their quote expiration times.
"We've changed our quote expiration from one month to one week," she said. "The customers have to get a new quote every week, depending on what it is they're looking for."
The impact hasn't just affected pricing.
"Sometimes the customers don't even want to work with us because the costs are so high," Harris told ABC News. "The timelines of the projects are also impacted, so that will also turn customers away because they have deadlines."
While Trump argued these tariffs would bring manufacturing back to the U.S., Harris expressed skepticism about this claim.
"I don't know that I believe that, because infrastructure doesn't happen overnight," she said. "I do see that some of the American suppliers are trying to be more competitive, but it's more expensive in the United States, we don't have the same resources."
The situation has become so challenging that Harris warned about her company's future.
"We struggle with taxes in general, and another tax is devastating to our company," she said. "We can't remain viable unless we have predictability for our customers."
The tariffs have impacted businesses of all sizes differently. Harris said that larger companies seemed to be handling the changes better "because they have more capital to work with," while many of her smaller business partners were struggling.
Major corporations have already announced price increases in response to the tariffs. Ford estimated the tariffs would cost them $2 billion this year, while Procter & Gamble planned to raise prices on 25% of their products.
The only exceptions to the new trade policies were Canada and Mexico, which remain in negotiations for their own trade deals. Meanwhile, China faced 30% tariffs under a separate trade truce, and India's total tariff rate rose to 50% due to its purchase of Russian oil and energy.
