“Made in America” Still Means Paying the Tariffs

Hapco Inc., a 15-person plastics manufacturing company based in Baraboo, Wisconsin, represents exactly the kind of business tariffs are often supposed to protect: a domestic manufacturer creating products and jobs here in the United States. But their experience tells a very different story.

As Hapco explains:

“We are a small plastics manufacturing company that imports some products that are not made in the USA. We started importing several years ago and based pricing on duty at the time.”

Like many U.S. manufacturers, Hapco relies on a mix of domestic production and imported inputs—especially for products that simply aren’t available from U.S. suppliers. Their pricing, like many small businesses, was built around stable and predictable tariff rates.

That predictability disappeared. The owner states:

“We ordered several replacement containers in February with August delivery dates and had to absorb the 50% tariffs imposed when the product arrived. We could not pass the costs on to our customers due to price guarantee contracts.”

That means a 50% tariff increase was absorbed entirely by a small, 15-person domestic manufacturer.

Even for Made-in-America companies, tariffs are not a shield—they are a cost. Many domestic manufacturers depend on global supply chains for inputs that simply are not produced in the United States. When tariffs change suddenly, those costs don’t disappear—they land directly on businesses.

And for small companies like Hapco, there is often nowhere else for those costs to go.

If your business has been impacted by tariffs, join thousands of others speaking out. Sign the We Pay the Tariffs letter today and help us push for tariff refunds.