Atlanta Small Business Faces $300,000 in Tariffs with No Way to Recover Losses

For a 10-person company based in Atlanta, Georgia, this year’s tariff shocks have been financially devastating. Despite careful planning, stable supplier relationships, and long-term purchasing contracts, they’ve been hit with more than $300,000 in additional tariffs — a burden that no small business can absorb.

They explained their situation:

“We had previous orders from 2023 and 2024 that didn’t arrive until 2025. There’s no chance to recoup the 15%–50% tariff on the different products we sell from Europe.”

For this company, the timing made everything worse. Orders placed under one tariff regime arrived under another — transformed by shifting emergency powers into enormous, unexpected tax bills.

Their experience highlights several challenges facing small importers nationwide:

• Tariff unpredictability destroys planning. Prices quoted years earlier suddenly become unworkable when duties surge from 15% to 50%.

• Small businesses have no cushion. A $300K tariff shock for a 10-employee firm can halt growth, hiring, and investment overnight.

• There’s no way to recover the cost. By the time the goods arrive, customers won’t accept massive price increases — and margins are already thin.

• Emergency tariff powers punish the smallest companies the most. Larger competitors can renegotiate, hedge, or shift supply chains. Small businesses simply cannot.

This Atlanta company is one of more than 800 small businesses in the We Pay the Tariffs coalition sharing their stories of real, measurable harm. Their voices show the urgent need for stable, predictable trade policy that doesn’t leave small employers exposed to financial ruin.

📢 If your small business has been directly affected by tariffs, we invite you to join WPTT. Sign our open letter to add your voice and stand with hundreds of U.S. businesses seeking fair, accountable trade policy.