{"id":19535,"date":"2025-10-23T13:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T13:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/19535\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T13:39:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T13:39:12","slug":"in-the-age-of-tariffs-san-diego-small-businesses-raise-prices-rethink-suppliers-and-settle-into-uncertainty-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/19535\/","title":{"rendered":"In the age of tariffs, San Diego small businesses raise prices, rethink suppliers and settle into uncertainty \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mim Na Chiangmai\u2019s business selling jackets and kimonos survived the coronavirus pandemic and the following years of rising inflation. Tariffs are a new setback, but something she feels she can navigate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel like, \u2018Oh my gosh, this is so heavy,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But it does feel tougher for smaller businesses than big ones, she added. \u201cMore than a massive, big scale (company) where you make a lot of money, I feel like us, me, it\u2019s so delicate.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was one of many merchants selling their wares recently at a San Diego Made Market. Many of their products, from ceramics to leather bags to beaded earrings, were crafted with materials sourced in San Diego County and as far as Thailand and Japan. They were doing so in a business environment newly shaped by import tariffs.<\/p>\n

\"ShoppersShoppers stroll past booths during the San Diego Made Summer Market held at Liberty Station in San Diego on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. Some small businesses selling goods there were struggling with tariffs, and others set up their companies to source things from within the U.S. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the legality of these tariffs, announced by President Trump in the spring and applied over the course of the past months, in early November in a fast-tracked case<\/a> that could entrench the changes or require billions in tariff revenue to be refunded.<\/p>\n

In San Diego, the way tariffs are impacting small businesses varies broadly, as a sample from that craft market and other local merchants illustrates. For those that source things domestically, it has been business as usual. Some merchants exposed to tariffs have raised prices. Some have tried to re-shore their suppliers or manufacturing but found local options lacking. One firm has decided to shut down.<\/p>\n

The administration also halted the de minimis rule<\/a>, established in 1938, which had simplified imports by exempting small value shipments from duties and taxes. The threshold started at $1 and grew over time, changing from $200 to $800 in 2015. Now it is zero. This has especially hit businesses that imported smaller value shipments, exempting them from tariffs.<\/p>\n

For this and other reasons, some small businesses say they are hit more profoundly by the new tariff rules than larger ones, which have more power to negotiate deals with suppliers and shippers.<\/p>\n

Chris Cate, the president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said businesses of every size are \u201cgoing to feel it to a degree,\u201d but smaller companies are more exposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to minimize the impacts of tariffs across all sizes of businesses,\u201d Cate said. \u201cBut it is a reality that those businesses that have much larger purchasing power can spread costs over a broader customer base than your more niche, specialized businesses. \u2026 Small businesses are going to probably have a more difficult time to absorb or broaden the impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

One challenge for small companies is discerning what each new tariff policy shift means for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feedback we\u2019ve been hearing is that \u2026 they don\u2019t have the international policy experts that can help them navigate through an ever-changing landscape when it comes to international trade and policies. \u2026 Those are the types of struggles that we hear a lot about from our small business owners, that: What do we need to do? How do we comply?\u201d Cate said.<\/p>\n

The cost of tariffs, though, is \u201cprobably one of the most concerning portions of this, especially for San Diego and us being a binational region that heavily relies on trade, especially with Mexico,\u201d he said. For small businesses headquartered in San Diego with manufacturing in Mexico, \u201ca huge concern is that we have products that are crisscrossing the border multiple times before they\u2019re finished. And these are just added costs that are going to be passed on to consumers, especially when you have, form a California standpoint, over $30 billion in trade with Mexico. That\u2019s a lot. They\u2019re our No. 1 export market and they support thousands of jobs, and that\u2019s a concern for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court\u2019s anticipated ruling will bring some welcomed clarity, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it will be somewhat settling for folks, but if it stands and we move forward on this, I think the larger concern is the policy implications of higher tariffs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Two clothiers: one raising prices, one shutting down<\/p>\n

Na Chiangmai\u2019s business, Soulzential, sells jackets, kimonos and other items sourced and manufactured in Thailand. It is a family enterprise. Her mother slash business partner works in Thailand and employs a small team of seamstresses. In San Diego, Na Chiangmai does the design, marketing, strategy and sales.<\/p>\n

She watched as new tariff rates against Thailand wavered, from an initial 36% to 19%. For a box of about 60 garments, she was paying around $80 more in September. She passed this on to her customers to differing degrees. Some shirts cost $55, up from $50, and jackets could cost $75 or $80, up from $69.<\/p>\n

At the fair, garments hung on racks, available for any curious fingertips. They were soft and pliable, some with blue and white motifs that evoked fine porcelain or tile. It\u2019s not like anything you\u2019d find at Marshalls, Walmart or Macy\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"MimMim Na Chiangmai, background, of Soulzential, watches as shoppers look through her selection of clothing items during the San Diego Made Summer Market held at Liberty Station. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy stuff is unique, and it brings diversity to the U.S,\u201d she said. She explored manufacturing in L.A., but to make the same product in the U.S., she would have to charge $300 per jacket, she calculated. \u201cIt does not make sense. \u2026 Who\u2019s going to (pay) that?\u201d she asked. She hopes customers would pay $80.<\/p>\n

The wager: higher prices won\u2019t drive away customers, because \u201cif you go to a handmade event, you can pay that and \u2026 value that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The owners of a different textile-based business, Lynnerup Fine Shirts, have decided to shut down rather than raise prices. Dealing with the red tape around tariffs was too much work, said Rasmus Lynnerup, who founded the business with his wife Catherine in 2023.<\/p>\n

They tailored bespoke shirts, taking more than 40 measurements and assessing the customer\u2019s posture for a perfect fit. Like Soulzential, this was a family enterprise, and slow fashion: handcrafted, natural fiber textiles, made to last.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Lynnerup Fine Shirts, we use only the finest fabrics sourced from Europe, complemented by luxurious mother-of-pearl and shell buttons from the Pacific Ocean,\u201d the website says. The shirts were priced from $400 to $700.<\/p>\n

But those far away fabrics and buttons became sharply more expensive due to tariffs. Rasmus Lynnerup\u2019s button-up, draping his shoulders just so, would cost 39% more today, given the tariff rate on Switzerland.<\/p>\n

In August, he was planning to pivot from shirt manufacturing to management consulting, an earlier career. \u201cI\u2019m not sure that was their goal,\u201d he said, , \u201cbut that is where that lands.\u201d By October, he had ended his lease on factory space in Logan Heights.<\/p>\n

What if his shoppers, who have money to spare if they\u2019re buying $400 shirts, would be willing to pay even more for a well-made shirt?<\/p>\n

All the import changes made running the shirt business not worth the trouble, he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a pain in the neck for me. \u2026 Now you have to fill in the cost of the (goods), and pay additional fees, and all of that stuff is just like \u2014 I don\u2019t need to mess around with that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just an additional hassle.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added he is fortunate, unlike other business owners, that he can easily shift directions due to his skills and professional experience. \u201cI feel energized and excited,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not down on it. In some ways, the tariffs and stuff coincided with what might have happened anyway. So I\u2019m energized about my next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sourcing domestically, or trying to<\/p>\n

The Julian Soap Company, whose shop on Main Street in Julian has been selling soaps and other fragrant goods since 1999, buys supplies from U.S. wholesalers, but some of those ingredients, which include Dead Sea mud, essential oils and silk, come from abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not import any product directly from other countries,\u201d Michaeline McConnell, the company\u2019s founder, said in an email interview. Instead, she purchases from U.S. suppliers who import the raw materials. \u201cYes, raw materials prices have gone up from 30% to over 100%, especially essential oils. I have had to raise my prices on my soap around 10% in order to cover the jump in raw material prices. Shipping costs have increased also, so I look for shipping deals when I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back at the maker market, a hat seller named Mike Bocek changed manufacturers after the tariffs kicked in, from a factory abroad to one in Southern California. He shopped around and found one affordable enough that he could keep his own prices stable.<\/p>\n

\"MikeMike Bocek shows some of the caps he sells at his booth, called Infiltrator. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Vanida Clevenger, the owner of Cre8tive Studio, makes and sells cute decorative items, from cutting boards to water bottles to earrings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always purchased locally or within the United States,\u201d she said. \u201cI like to support our country.\u201d This set-up means she is not worried about tariffs as a small business owner.<\/p>\n

Rachael Fahlstrom, who launched Skin by Juniper and Jade<\/a>\u00a0this spring, tried to design a tariff-proof business, to the extent that she could.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was choosing my labs, I was really intentional, strategic, picking a lab that was U.S. based.,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was a company in England that I was really interested in. But to get a sample \u2014 I think I ordered $100 worth of samples and it was almost $200 to ship it.\u201d That included shipping tariffs and duty taxes. She also ruled out labs in China, where the tariffs would steeply raise the price.<\/p>\n

She found \u201can amazing lab\u201d in Florida she is excited to work with. Labor costs are higher in the U.S., she said. But it was important to her to support U.S. businesses.<\/p>\n

Her serums and other skincare products had been exposed to tariffs with China, because she ordered bottles and boxes on Amazon Business. But the lab she chose also provides packaging.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"RachaelRachael Fahlstrom adjusts the display of skincare products she sells during a San Diego Made Summer Market. She started her business right around when the Trump administration tariffs were announced.(Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nIn a yarn shop, a tangle of tariffs<\/p>\n

Sara Heckman\u2019s shop Apricot Yarn & Supply sells yarn from around the world. Her shop is experiencing a kaleidoscope of tariff rates.<\/p>\n

Uruguay\u2019s Malabrigo Yarn is \u201cmade from luxurious natural fibers like merino wool, alpaca, and silk, known for their softness and comfort,\u201d Apricot Yarn\u2019s website says. Amano Yarn, based in Peru, is \u201cknown for its luxurious fibers sourced from the Peruvian Andes, including alpaca, wool, and pima cotton.\u201d Rosa Pomar produces \u201chand-dyed yarns and textile products that highlight the rich textile heritage of Portugal.\u201d She also sells handmade yarn from Bolivia.<\/p>\n

For Peru and Uruguay, the rates were 10% in September. Bolivia\u2019s rate is 15%. For Portugal and must of the rest of the European Union, it is also 15%. Canada\u2019s rate increased to 35% in August from 25%, though many goods, including some yarns, are exempt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that tariffs are ways that countries feel like they\u2019re making things even,\u201d Heckman said. \u201cBut people love finding something in our shop from Portugal that they wouldn\u2019t be able to find anywhere else. \u2026 People really love that intimate experience of walking in a store and feeling all the yarn and finding what they like. And that\u2019s they think that I don\u2019t want to let go of. I don\u2019t want to limit what we carry based on tariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result of these tariffs, Heckman began to see some price increases from yarn suppliers starting in April. Others absorbed the costs. After August\u2019s tariff rates went into effect, prices stayed the same, but suppliers\u00a0charged a 10% duty fee or surcharge, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just pass it on to our customer,\u201d Heckman said. Prices are at times as much as $2 more per skein of yarn, which is a steep hike, she added. \u201cIt feels like a big change, rather than a few cents to a dollar per piece,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her business is resilient and, in a sense, countercyclical. When the world is spinning out of control, yarn crafts feel like a way to hold things together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to say that our business is still doing well,\u201d she said. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t affected us in the way that we\u2019ve noticed that it\u2019s reducing our business. I think, fortunately, for what we do, it\u2019s a good escape from reality and the world. It gives you a sense of calm and you can use it to kind of take your mind away from all that news you see on your phone or your computer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, like Na Chiangmai, she said small businesses are being hurt more by the Trump administration\u2019s tariffs. \u201cUnlike a large corporation that buys millions of dollars of product a year from these same sources, we can\u2019t negotiate in the same way. We don\u2019t have quite as much buying power,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She also can\u2019t find identical or very similar products made here. \u201cNot everything is made here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The end of the de minimis rule has also caused instability and further price hikes, she added. In the past, she placed smaller orders from yarn suppliers in Canada, instead of ordering a lot at one time, aiming to keep the package value under $800.<\/p>\n

Now she pays a steep duty fee, passed along by shipping companies such as UPS and FedEx. This bill comes several weeks after the shipment arrives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what that bill is until I receive it. It could be $100. It could be $700. It\u2019s adding that onto the product that I\u2019ve already started selling, that wasn\u2019t counting in that fee,\u201d she said. These duty fees are not entirely new, she added, but they are more widespread and more unpredictable.<\/p>\n

While some shippers provide up front estimates, many do not. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what it is. That\u2019s the hardest part about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

These changes are leading her to become more selective in what she stocks, not fully cutting products, but ordering less of the brands knitters are not clamoring for.<\/p>\n

Running a business is about making a profit, but it\u2019s also about building relationships with vendors and customers, she said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard, because it\u2019s not a choice I that made and it\u2019s not a choice they made. It\u2019s just this external force that\u2019s creating a difficulty between our business relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The uncertainty has been hard, even with suppliers being communicative and transparent. The regulation \u201cchanges, and then it changes again. It\u2019s just very uncertain. So it\u2019s hard to know what to do.\u201d Even if she wanted to hedge by purchasing more yarn before the tariffs kicked in, she added, she could not. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a giant amount of capital to throw in \u2026 ahead of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

An even bigger doubt looms: \u201cIs this going to continue? Are people going to shy away from extra purchases?\u201d Crafting may be an escape, but it is discretionary. It\u2019s not food or an electricity bill. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit on the scary side. In six months, is it still going to be going the way it\u2019s going?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mim Na Chiangmai\u2019s business selling jackets and kimonos survived the coronavirus pandemic and the following years of rising…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[387,383,181,74,76,75,1696],"class_list":{"0":"post-19535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-san-diego","12":"tag-san-diego-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego-news","14":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}