New Survey Shows Tariffs' Impact on Employment

Tariffs are forcing difficult decisions about new hirings, employee retention, and whether businesses can keep operating at all. Preliminary results from the new We Pay the Tariffs survey show the effect they are having on small businesses:

• Nearly one-third of respondents were forced to lay off workers due to tariffs.

• One-quarter of small businesses have cut hours, wages, or benefits for current employees.

• Over half of respondents have delayed or canceled expansion/investment plans.

One small business described the impediment tariffs have been for growth:

• “The tariffs are directly responsible for our business scaling back product innovation, cutting expenses wherever possible, and curtailing the hiring of new employees as an expense we cannot bear in the current economic climate precipitated by the cost of the IEEPA and current tariffs.”

Another small business with 6 employees explained the effects tariffs have had on their workforce:

• “...we had to lay off most of our workers, and after almost 25-years in business, our small business is in real jeopardy of having to close its doors.”

In some cases, tariffs may even push businesses toward decisions that run counter to the goal of supporting American jobs. As one respondent put it:

• “Ironically, [tariffs have caused] us to buy automation equipment from abroad and lay off staff in the U.S.”

These are the types of experiences we seek to capture in our new survey – with the end goal of publishing a major tariff report. The more responses received, the more robust our results will be. 

Please add your experience by answering now and/or sharing this link with others that might be willing to respond.

Take the Survey