{"id":63862,"date":"2025-08-07T00:44:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T00:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/63862\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T00:44:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T00:44:18","slug":"oregon-businesses-brace-for-higher-tariffs-as-global-trade-tensions-start-to-weigh-on-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/63862\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon businesses brace for higher tariffs as global trade tensions start to weigh on economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Emily<\/p>\n

Emily Smith of Hacea Coffee Source shows U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Beaverton, coffee roasting equipment during a tour of Southeast Portland\u2019s Buckman Coffee Factory On May 29, 2025. Smith says import tariffs are forcing Hacea to pass some higher costs on to customers.<\/p>\n

Kyra Buckley \/ OPB<\/p>\n

Oregon businesses are feeling the effects of President Trump\u2019s tariffs, as companies reliant on global trade brace for even higher import tax rates as soon as Thursday<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Trade helps drive Oregon\u2019s economy. Last year, companies operating in the state imported more than $28 billion worth of parts and finished products, and exported over $34 billion to global markets.<\/p>\n

Since widespread tariffs hit earlier this year, Oregon businesses from a range of industries have been warning Pacific Northwest leaders that the import taxes are raising the cost of doing business<\/a>. Some companies are already passing along some of those higher costs on to customers, while others are holding off on hiring or starting new projects. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t plan to grow your business,\u201d Emily Smith, Portland-based sales representative for Hacea Coffee Source, said. \u201cYou can\u2019t plan any kind of expansion, you can\u2019t plan any kind of investment, because you need to have every single dollar possible \u2014 liquid \u2014 so that you can pay these unexpected tariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Economists often look at job numbers and other indicators to analyze the health of the state economy. That data tends to lag a few months, making it hard to assess how tariffs are affecting Oregon\u2019s economy in real time. <\/p>\n

Because of that, Damon Runberg with Business Oregon said the state agency recently surveyed more than 250 companies<\/a> about tariffs. Most respondents said tariffs are raising the cost of needed products. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a valid sample,\u201d Runberg said, pointing out that there are more than 1 million licensed businesses in the state. \u201cSo we want to caution people from being like, \u2018this is gospel truth.\u2019 But it does give us some general insights into what that mindset has been this spring and early summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Runberg said a small number of companies surveyed expect tariffs to have a positive impact, creating more domestic demand. Service businesses like hotels may see little to no effect. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, equipment manufacturers and companies involved in making computer chips may delay big investments in anticipation of higher import taxes. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of businesses are sort of saying \u2018we\u2019re gonna sit back, not do a whole lot, we\u2019re not gonna hire a bunch of people, we\u2019re not gonna lay a whole bunch of people off,\u2019 because there\u2019s so much uncertainty right now that making business decisions around that uncertainty is really difficult,\u201d Runberg said.<\/p>\n

Coffee is particularly vulnerable to tariffs since there is little domestic supply \u2014 the bean only grows in tropical climates. Smith says companies like Hacea work directly with farmers in coffee-producing countries, such as Brazil and Ecuador, and then sell those beans to roasters. <\/p>\n

Imported coffee has been hit with at least a 10% tariff rate, the baseline for any good from a foreign country. The Trump administration is planning to hike up those rates on certain countries \u2014 including Brazil and Ecuador \u2014 on Thursday, barring any last-minute deals. <\/p>\n

However, Trump has repeatedly changed deadlines at the last minute. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no way to prepare for any of this,\u201d Smith said. <\/p>\n

So far, Hacea has passed on some of the tariff cost to its customers, she said. But if higher tariffs go into effect this week, the coffee company will need more money available right away to pay the federal government. Right now, a shipment of coffee can cost Hacea tens of thousands of dollars in tariff fees. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had to go and borrow money to pay the tariffs and there\u2019s finance charges that go with that,\u201d Smith said. \u201cSo we\u2019re eating the finance charges, which has reduced our margin a good chunk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emily Smith of Hacea Coffee Source shows U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Beaverton, coffee roasting equipment during a tour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101,47245],"class_list":["post-63862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-trade-coffee-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}