Small Businesses Brace for Potential New Tariffs

For many small businesses, the challenge is not just current tariffs, it is the looming possibility that new tariffs could be coming.

Preliminary results from the new We Pay the Tariffs survey show:

• 94% of respondents expect future tariffs, including potential Section 122 and Section 301 actions, to negatively impact their business. 

• More than 57% say they expect those tariffs to very negatively impact their operations.

Small business describe their issues with additional Section 301 tariffs:

• “The imposition of potential long-term tariffs at an as-yet-to-be-determined rate under Section 301 will keep our small business in a state of uncertainty and undermine any growth plans we may have implemented.”

• “Additions to the China 301 tariffs could be catastrophic.”

• “More Section 301's will simply make everything more expensive to import for no reason.”

• “We held some of the tariff costs because of our hope that the IEEPA were going to be dismissed but if [President] Trump imposes [new tariffs] under 301, we will have no more hope.”

More small business describe their concerns over Section 232 tariffs:

• “The Section 232 Copper tariffs have become an existential threat to our family owned business.”

• “I think it’s likely that [President Trump] will impose extremely high tariffs on all of us under Section 232.”

The uncertainty surrounding potential future tariffs is creating hesitation across the small business community. Many companies are delaying investments, reconsidering supplier relationships, or preparing for additional price increases as they wait to see what policies may come next.

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