TEXAS — Next month is shaping up to be a big tariff month in the U.S. and around the world.
Last Friday, President Donald Trump said a 100% tariff on Chinese products would take effect on Nov. 1.
While the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on Nov. 5 regarding the president’s authority when it comes to country-specific tariffs, Texas business owners say they continue to feel the impact of the tariffs.
Inside a commercial space in Addison, north of Dallas, is where all the magic happens for Steve Harman and his colleagues.
Over the last decade, he and his business partner have co-owned MediaHead.
According to him, the pandemic made 2020 a difficult year for his company and other businesses. But he said 2025 has been especially difficult as well.
“Prices are constantly changing. I think it can even prolong our ability to, you know, just put a quote together quickly,” said Harman, co-owner of MediaHead.
He stated that they’ve observed manufacturers increasing prices since March.
“And I wanna say we’ve seen it at least twice since,” said Harman.
Harman said that if they don’t get an immediate response from a customer, prices may be higher in a week, a month and even a day in some cases.
“We’ve seen increased costs in the lighting. Cameras are one of the categories that are gonna be going up to, you know, potentially 100% tariffs. We sell a lot of cameras,” said Harman.
He’s talking about the tariff announcement Trump made towards China.
After the country enforced strict restrictions on rare earth exports, this would impact several critical U.S. industries.
“For 2025, we saw a bump in the MSRP pretty much across the line of 2% when the original tariffs hit,” said Don Herring, CEO of Don Herring Mitsubishi.
Over in Irving, another business owner is dealing with price hikes.
Herring owns two Mitsubishi dealerships in North Texas.
He said that, at this time last year, they had been selling more new cars than used.
This year, he says it’s the opposite.
“And there’s not as large rebates on the 2025s going out as it was on the 2024s when they went out. Which is also another effect of the tariffs,” said Herring.
Herring said the Japanese auto manufacturer is having to get creative on how to make the cars affordable to help offset all the import taxes.
“Across the U.S., import costs are up roughly 5%. Including import cost on cars, and that pushes inflation higher,” said Patrick Soleymani, associate dean of outreach and strategic engagement and an associate professor of management at the Donald G. Costello College of Business at George Mason University.
Soleymani said Texas is the No. 1 exporting state in the U.S., moving about $455 billion in goods just last year.
“Analysts estimate tariffs could cut about 1.5% from Texas’ GDP, which could cost the state up to $47 billion and threaten nearly 100,000 jobs,” said Soleymani.
Despite the impact of tariffs, Harman said his company is expanding its reach by offering other services like window shades and making mindful decisions.
He said that not only are they seeing price hikes but delays as well.
Harman said if they order a product today, they’re used to getting it in five days or less. He mentioned that they’ve been expecting certain products for several weeks.
He said they don’t take every job that comes to them. He said they must be strategic, and if they didn’t, it would probably be easier for them to lose money on a project.
For now, their lights are staying on as they continue to navigate the ever-changing economic climate.
Herring said some manufacturers are limiting the rebates and incentives, while others are doing away with equipment or limiting equipment to help cover the import tax.