{"id":116110,"date":"2026-02-17T15:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/116110\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:17:07","slug":"small-business-owners-in-pennsylvania-struggle-in-wake-of-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/116110\/","title":{"rendered":"Small-business owners in Pennsylvania struggle in wake of tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

As business costs continue to mount in the wake of President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/a>, Andrea Grove, the owner of Elementary Coffee Co. in Harrisburg, has done everything she can think of to keep running a business in which her employees are paid well, her customers can afford her coffee, and she can provide a home away from home for anyone looking for community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As small-business owners across the country have attested<\/a>, making ends meet financially is not easy these days as Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs on products from around the globe have resulted in increased prices on everything from coffee beans<\/a> and groceries<\/a> to aluminum<\/a> and packaging like cups and lids<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Grove, the tariffs have left her with rising prices for coffee beans and for packaging from China, such as cups. To address those added costs, Grove no longer pays herself, instituted a hiring freeze, increased some prices for consumers, and changed her serveware from environmentally friendly packaging to plastic goods that don\u2019t align with her own personal ethics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After 11 years in business, she\u2019s deeply worried about the future of her company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very nervous,\u201d Grove said. \u201cI think my boyfriend can attest that I have been more stressed than ever before about the continuation of my own company if I\u2019m going to be able to offer what I set out to offer and if I\u2019m going to be able to make ends meet. It\u2019s been like scraping the bottom of the barrel financially for me to just keep things running.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In December, Grove began decreasing her own wages, and in January, cut them altogether in an effort to make ends meet for her business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I gave myself $400 last week because I was like, I need money,\u201d she said. \u201cThen I was looking into substitute teaching because I was like, I think I might need a second job. But when am I going to have time to do that? So I was looking into that sort of thing as well because I need to pay rent. I need to take care of my cat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rising costs for businesses and households<\/p>\n

Across the country, Trump\u2019s tariffs are financially hurting small businesses and families, according to two reports released in the past week. Immediately after his inauguration, Trump began threatening to impose tariffs on foreign goods and services. In early April, he imposed<\/a> a 10% tariff on goods imported from nearly every country as well as additional tariffs<\/a> on goods from certain countries, declaring that \u201cforeign trade and economic practices have created a national emergency\u201d and that tariffs were needed to respond. Consumer prices have continued to rise<\/a> during Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n

A Feb. 11 report<\/a> from Sen. Ed Markey, a Democratic lawmaker from Massachusetts and a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, found that small businesses in the United States paid more than $63.1 billion between March 2025 and November 2025 due to tariffs, including $1.6 billion from Pennsylvania\u2019s small businesses. The same report found businesses with fewer than 500 workers lost 132,000 jobs since April 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSmall businesses don\u2019t have Mar-a-Lago memberships, golden gifts, or ballroom invitations granting them special exemptions from Trump\u2019s reckless economic policies, including his tariff taxes,\u201d Markey said in a press release<\/a>. \u201cSince Inauguration Day, Trump has made life more expensive for Americans\u2014driving up costs on everything from health care, electricity, and groceries to child care and housing\u2014all while giving tax cuts to CEO billionaires and currying favors with big business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Families are also being financially affected by tariffs, according to a study<\/a> by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation released on Feb. 6. According to that study, Trump\u2019s tariffs raised costs for American households by an average of $1,000 in 2025. If the tariffs remain in place this year, they are expected to cost households another $1,300 in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump tariffs are the largest US tax increase as a percent of GDP (0.54 percent for 2026) since 1993,\u201d the study\u2019s authors noted. \u201cHistorical evidence and recent studies show that tariffs are taxes that raise prices and reduce available quantities of goods and services for US businesses and consumers, resulting in lower income, reduced employment, and lower economic output.\u201d<\/p>\n

New research<\/a> from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that U.S. consumers bear 95% of Trump\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica\u2019s average tariff rate has increased by nearly sevenfold in the past year \u2014 while inflation has actually cooled, real wages have risen, GDP growth has accelerated, and trillions in investments continue pouring in to make and hire in America,\u201d White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in an emailed statement. \u201cPanicans need to come to terms with the fact that President Trump continues to be proven right on tariffs.\u201d The term panican is a term coined by Trump<\/a> for people who disagree with his tariffs.<\/p>\n

Congressional votes on tariffs<\/p>\n

After House Republicans have repeatedly<\/a> blocked efforts by congressional Democrats to overturn<\/a> Trump\u2019s tariff policies, six House Republicans on Feb. 11 joined Democrats and voted to block Trump\u2019s tariffs on Canada<\/a>. The resolution<\/a> now goes to the Senate, where some Republicans have previously<\/a> joined with Democrats to pass similar resolutions.<\/p>\n

If it does pass the Senate, Trump is expected to veto it. Democrats would need a two-thirds vote in both chambers to override Trump\u2019s veto, making a tariff repeal unlikely.<\/p>\n

Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Kevin Kiley of California, Jeff Hurd of Colorado, and Dan Newhouse of Washington backed the resolution. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democrat to vote against it.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 11, Fitzpatrick and 213 other House Republicans backed a resolution that aimed<\/a> to ban legislative challenges to Trump\u2019s tariffs through July 31. That attempt failed, with three Republicans \u2014 Kiley, Bacon and Massie \u2014 joining Democrats to defeat the resolution by a vote of 217-214.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers\u2019 dwindling support for tariffs comes as about 60% of Americans say they disapprove of Trump\u2019s tariffs, according<\/a> to the Pew Research Center.<\/p>\n

It also comes as Pennsylvanians, and Americans at large, are struggling with increased costs. Health care premiums are increasing<\/a> after Republicans failed to extend health insurance subsidies, hundreds of thousands of people across the commonwealth are expected to lose<\/a> health coverage after congressional Republicans cut Medicaid<\/a>, families are spending more money due to inflation<\/a>, and unemployment is up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rachele Fortier, the executive director of Affordable Pennsylvania, criticized Pennsylvania Reps. Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan and Scott Perry for voting against<\/a> Wednesday\u2019s resolution to overturn the tariffs on Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs their constituents struggle to afford health care, groceries, housing, utilities, and other basic necessities, Congressmen Mackenzie, Bresnahan, and Perry voted to continue jacking up costs on Pennsylvania industry, consumers, and families,\u201d Fortier said in a press release. \u201cHow are you serving your constituents by voting for higher costs while they struggle to get by? These congressmen need to stop bending the knee to Trump and try fighting for their constituents for a change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We need support from the federal government\u2019<\/p>\n

As Congress considers fighting Trump\u2019s tariffs and the president digs his heels in on economic policy that\u2019s making life more expensive for Americans, Grove hopes elected officials will hear small-business owners\u2019 pleas for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would think most people don\u2019t want a world where small businesses can\u2019t thrive and exist, and they are only forced to go to chains,\u201d Grove said. \u201cSo if small businesses are as important as everyone seems to believe that they are, it would be really good to recognize just how much work they\u2019re doing for communities, how much they\u2019re already sacrificing, and how much they need everyone\u2019s support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not just like, Hey we need customers,\u201d Grove continued. \u201cWe need support from legislature. We need support from the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

She asked lawmakers to put aside political affiliation and do what\u2019s right for Americans who are struggling.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstand that the people that are paying the cost for their decisions are very real people,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if, for some reason, they don\u2019t think that they exist \u2014 we do. We are here, and I think people will be very, very upset if we disappear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As business costs continue to mount in the wake of President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs, Andrea Grove, the owner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-116110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-pennsylvania","9":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","10":"tag-pennsylvania-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}