20:45 BST 22 April
Caitriona Perry
Chief presenter, reporting from Ohio
A giant Darth Vader greets customers to Alter Ego Comics in downtown Lima, Ohio.
This store is a mecca for collectors and its owner, Marc Bowker, ships his figures, replica models, comics and books right across the US.
The only things made in America in the store, he jokes, are he and his co-worker.
All his products come from abroad – the figures and collectibles from mostly China, the majority of the comics are printed in Canada.
He’s already had what he calls “tariff emails” coming from a variety of manufacturers, warning of increases in prices from 14% to 35%.
He’s regretfully, he says, going to have to pass some, if not all of those costs, onto his customers.
“Small retailers like me, we can’t absorb all of the tariff fees that are being passed on to us, and we understand that our manufacturers can’t either.”
Bowker is an independent voter who grew up in a Republican family but finds himself leaning towards the policies of the Democratic party now. And is firmly anti-tariff.
“At the end of the day, the tariff is a consumer tax,” he says.
“None of us were expecting this. Not only the manufacturers, but neither the retailers and the consumers.”