Late last week, an appeals court deemed many of the Trump administration’s sweeping global tariffs illegal but left the duties in place, allowing the administration time for an appeal to the Supreme Court.

President Donald Trump is now asking for the high court to quickly weigh in on the decision, in a move that could test the president’s economic agenda.

So, what does all this mean for U.S. businesses? Heather Bickford is chief operating officer at Death By Audio, based in Queens, New York, which specializes in sound effect equipment.

“It’s really hard to deal with it, to be honest. I mean, every day, you never know what’s going to happen,” Bickford told Marketplace.

The company has been around for roughly two decades, but the ongoing tariff landscape is putting a strain on business. Marketplace’s Sabri Ben-Achour sat down to learn more about how Death By Audio is navigating uncertainty. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Sabri Ben-Achour: So the last time you and I talked, I think you would put some new product lines on hold. You were thinking you might need a loan to keep going. Since then, some tariffs have gone up, some have gone down. How are you doing?

Heather Bickford: Well, I mean, we’re hanging in there. I guess it’s been pretty even as far as the tariff goes with China — we’re importing the goods from them, so it has at least, like, leveled off as far as nothing’s really changed in the past few months.

You know, in the beginning, it was all I was focusing on, especially when the tariff rate was at, like — what was it 170% and now that it’s at around the 55%. We’ve kind of just run with that and project our numbers in that regard.

Ben-Achour: I mean, the wildest thing about U.S. trade policy right now is it changes constantly. How do you deal with that as a business?

Bickford: Yeah. I mean, every day, you never know what’s going to happen. And it literally was taking a pretty toxic hold on my mental health. I actually had to kind of check out for a while from it; it was consuming me. Yeah, I was kind of losing it, to be honest.

Ben-Achour: Well, I mean, some of the president’s tariffs are in court, not all of them, but so far they’ve been struck down by two lower courts. But who knows what the Supreme Court will say. Would this case change anything for you?

Bickford: Definitely, if it [President Trump’s tariff on Chinese imports] was reversed. Do I think that’s going to happen? Probably not, but I guess I have a tiny bit of hope.

Ben-Achour: Yeah. You know, supporters of the president’s tariffs will say, “Companies like yours and other companies that are dealing with these tariffs, well, they just need to find American suppliers for everything that they would otherwise import.” Is that a practical option for you?

Bickford: It is not a practical option for us. The majority of the components that go into our products, they don’t make them in the United States. You know, some of our competitors, who we’re are all friends with, every other week we’d get together and have Zoom calls trying to find other resources. And there was never any other option. So realistically speaking, it would take years to develop these manufacturers here.

Ben-Achour: Yeah, I know you have been trying to check out as much as possible, but just to pull you back in for a second when you’re looking at the next six months or so, what are you planning for? What do you see?

Bickford: It’s so hard, you know, trying to even project these things and just knowing that it could potentially change at any day. It’s like, how can you run a business like that? We’ve just had to kind of run with the rate that’s set at the moment with China, and just kind of plug that into our numbers and just hope for the best.

And the reality of the tariffs on the market, in general, I think like prices have been going up steadily, but I think like, we’re not even going to see that effect for a little longer, too. It’s just like, I don’t know if, like, guitar pedals are going to be something that everyone can afford anymore when they are struggling to just make ends meet.

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