HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – President Donald Trump\u2019s new global tariffs took effect today, and Hawaii business owners, who\u2019ve been absorbing costs for months, say they have no choice but to raise prices. <\/p>\n
The new tariffs range from 10 percent to 50 percent on goods from more than 60 countries and the European Union. <\/p>\n
The Trump administration says this will reap billions of dollars in tax revenue, but economists say American consumers face even higher costs on everything from clothes to cars to cheese.<\/p>\n
Importers in Hawaii are advising shoppers to buy sooner than later to avoid price hikes and product shortages.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a massive tax increase and right now it\u2019s being shouldered by companies and by the end of the year it be shouldered by the the individual consumer to the tune of anywhere from 15 to 50%,\u201d said Jalene Kanani Bell, owner of Noho Home, which has been manufacturing goods in Waipahu for the past five years. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe make native Hawaiian inspired luxury home decor, so everything from comforters to duvet covers, sheet sets, those are all 100% comb cotton sateen versus our 100% wool rugs.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cFor the microfactory, we do need to buy our raw materials from elsewhere. We don\u2019t grow cotton, we don\u2019t extrude polyesters, we don\u2019t weave,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n
Those mainly come from China, India, Pakistan and Australia. <\/p>\n
Bell says it\u2019s been a nightmare trying to plan around President Trump\u2019s fluctuating trade policy and constant uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got things that are on the dock and you kind of decide, well, maybe I\u2019m just going to wait until there\u2019s some normalization,\u201d she explained. \u201cYou\u2019re dipping into whatever liquidity you have, you\u2019re taking on additional debt to basically get over the hurdle to wait until this until a moment of normalcy and then understand what you\u2019re gonna do about your prices.\u201d <\/p>\n
After months of absorbing higher costs, Bell and other business owners say they\u2019re raising prices and passing some of the tax burden onto customers. <\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just companies that rely on Asian goods, but also companies that rely on importing European goods, like Bocconcino in Kakaako, which imports specialty meats, oils and wine and makes cheese in-house. <\/p>\n
Part of the owner\u2019s survival strategy is ordering less inventory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t bring in as much as we did the previous year, so we cut down on the quantities,\u201d said chef-owner Donato Loperfido. \u201cLast year, nine pallettes, this year five. That\u2019s a big difference, almost half.\u201d <\/p>\n
Loperfido says Trump\u2019s 15% tax on EU products only exacerbates a bigger, existing problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shipping costs to Hawaii are outrageous. There is the tariffs are nothing. It\u2019s the shipping costs that are killing us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe really need to work on something to lower the prices of the shipping costs and we really need the help from our senators.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the new tariffs are meant to support U.S. manufacturing, business owners aren\u2019t sure consumers are willing to pay more for American-made goods. <\/p>\n
The true test will come during the busy holiday shopping season.<\/p>\n
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