The Supreme Court’s ruling invalidating many of President Trump’s tariffs is good news, say some local businesses who rely on imported goods and have felt the pinch of those tariffs.
CBS Colorado heard from a business owner who says she’s been operating at a loss for some time due to these tariffs. CBS Colorado also heard from an advocate for business development who says the tariffs helped the local economy by driving more international companies to Colorado.
“That’s all we can do at this point. Surviving mode, you know,” said Denver and Aurora business owner Hannah Cho.
Cho says she’s been weathering the impact of President Trump’s tariffs for months.
“A lot of supplies and ingredients went up,” said Cho. “We cannot make any money, many, many months. So during the summer, we make money and we save some, and then winter, we use the savings.”
Cho owns two nail salons and two restaurants: one offering Korean barbecue and one delivering sushi via model train.
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“Most of my products, especially in Japanese restaurant, coming from Japan, and then they add a lot of tariff price. So because of that, price went up somewhere between 50% to 75% and we cannot really pass to our customer, you know, because of the economy,” said Cho.
Cho says it’s not possible to change to only American ingredients and supplies.
“I might change 20%, 30% of ingredients similar I can find here, but some main product I cannot change because it changes too much of flavor,” said Cho.
Her nail salons have been hit hard, too.
“Nail Salon, I increase 5% to 10% of the price, but both of my restaurant I couldn’t,” said Cho. “It’s very difficult, because you pretty much work six to seven days, like 70 hours for a week, but your profit margin is like zero or minus.”
Cho says the Supreme Court ruling largely striking down those tariffs is good news for her business.
“The cost will be more go down, and then we’ll be very happy,” said Cho. “I don’t have to touch my savings anymore, and then I can make some profit every month.”
Cho says as long as these tariffs are not in place, she can reduce prices at her nail salon. She says she never increased prices in her restaurants because people are already choosing to eat out less at a time when costs are high.
“What we have seen is small businesses be extra hesitant on what’s next,” said Ellie Reynolds, CEO of the Douglas County Economic Development Corporation. “The regulatory environment oftentimes, if it provides any bit of uncertainty, becomes a drag on the economy.”
Reynolds says while they may have challenged some businesses, tariffs brought more international companies to the U.S.
“We felt like tariffs were working,” said Reynolds. “We actually saw a 19% increase in companies looking to find new headquarter locations. And so we will navigate the new decision, but ultimately, we felt like it was a great time for economic development.”
Reynolds said the Douglas EDC has seen a big boom in food and beverage advanced manufacturing coming to the county. She anticipates those gains will slow without tariffs. She also notes the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been on an upward trend.
The future for business owners like Cho is still uncertain, with questions surrounding whether importers will be reimbursed and what other actions President Trump may take.
“Whatever incentive structure that looks like, I think we will continue to see the administration push for manufacturing, data centers, chips, dollars to all come back to the United States,” said Reynolds. “We really need clarity on the situation moving forward to see if tariffs will shake out to be a net positive or a loss.”
“The most difficult thing for me is we cannot expect our future,” said Cho.