UTICA, Mich. (WXYZ) — Experts say President Donald Trump's fluctuating tariffs are putting a strain on small businesses, making it difficult to plan ahead and know how inventory is going to be impacted.
Back in April, tariffs on China were 145 percent, but that's reduced to 30 percent, while China said it would cut its 125 percent increase on U.S. goods to 10 percent.
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Small businesses are concerned about the pause on Chinese tariffs ending in August, which may have an impact on holiday inventory and potentially increase prices.
But a local toy store that gets 90 percent of its products overseas says they're in good shape.
Husband and wife, Ron and Tracey Manoviec, own Toy Box in Utica. They've been in business for 17 years, and they say they're OK amid Trump's changing tariffs.
“Our take has been to try and stockpile, get stock in before the prices raise," Ron said. "That way we can kind of control what we have to sell it for in the future."
The couple did this in late March and early April, buying as much as they would have for the holidays.
“When you hear 145% tariff, you’re like 'oh crap', you start freaking out," Tracey said.
“Instead of, you know, usually we’re Christmas buying fall or late summer, we went in March and we have it, we still have stuff on order, we have a warehouse full, so we’re ready," Ron said.
They also bought it all pre-tariff, and say they won't need to raise prices as much during the holidays because of it.
“We originally thought, this is great, you know. Something sells for $20, we're gonna have to sell for $40. It's not that, you know, something sells for $20, we might sell for $22, $23, but it's not $40," Ron said.
But not all small businesses bulk-purchased inventory; others delayed or paused orders.
“It seems week to week, month to month, sometimes day to day, the tariff situation is changing, and especially for small businesses, it's very hard to keep up with and to know how your inventory is going to be impacted and when is the right time to buy," said Vic Veda.
Vic is the Vice President of the Michigan Retail Association. She says a recent member survey shows more than 50 percent of businesses said they've considered changing their inventory due to tariffs.
“You know, we always do want to see tariffs used to better our economic environment, but it really is the inconsistency with how they've been applied and the uncertainty with how long they'll be in effect and what goods are going to be impacted, that is causing so much strain on retail," Vic said.
She says the best thing you can do is shop local.
“You know, even just shifting 1 in 10 purchases from your out-of-state online purchases back to a Michigan-based business has huge, huge impacts," Vic said.
As for Toy Box, they say they're in good shape, and they're grateful for the support they're getting from shoppers.
"We've been blessed with a community that's always just helped us," Ron said.
