'Nowhere to absorb it': From consumer small business to big food, the Trump tariff cost warnings mount

Lori Ann LaRocco - CNBC - 01/04
President Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs on countries around the world will hit food and consumer businesses particularly hard, say CEOs in the sector.
President Donald Trump holds an executive order about tariffs increase, flanked by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. 
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

Fear of rising supply chain costs as a result of President Donald Trump's new tariffs expected to be implemented Wednesday — "Liberation Day," as Trump calls it — have small to medium-sized businesses turning down opportunities to expand their market share with too much economic uncertainty surrounding prices in the near future. On Tuesday, Trump said the tariffs plan is ready and the administration said the trade taxes will take effect "immediately."

"This is heartbreaking," said Anjali Bhargava, founder of Anjali's Cup, which makes retail spice packages.

Bhargava's Ayurveda-inspired turmeric and chai blends — made with spices sourced from Vietnam, Thailand, Africa, and South America; tea and peppercorn from India; safran from Afghanistan; and special retail tin packaging made in China — are sold through retailers including Whole Foods, and there is little room for major price changes.

"My margins are thin," Bhargava said. "The people I'm working with, independent foreign farmers securing their 2024 spice harvest, these are spices not grown at the scale I need here in the United States."

The threat of the global tariffs already have the small business owner rethinking plans for core marketing efforts. In June, the Specialt...
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