‘It’s hurting us’: Small businesses feel the pinch of tariffs

The proprietor of LMI Textiles, a little company situated in Boston that specializes in the distribution of medical goods, is Legrand Lindor. His company provides janitorial supplies, personal protective equipment, and harm reduction items to organizations and private and public health systems around the country.

Although Lindor was aware that tariffs were imminent, he was taken aback when a $5,000 import tax bill for aluminum parts from a French source arrived.

“It just made my stomach sink because, you know, having to meet payroll, pay vendors, contractors, things of that nature,” Lindor said.

He is among the numerous small enterprises who are being negatively impacted by tariffs.

“It’s hurting us, but we’re trying to figure it out,” he stated.

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Lindor is one of four small business owners who spoke digitally about tariff issues earlier this month with Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

Small Business For America’s Future, a national coalition of small business leaders, organized the virtual meeting to raise awareness of the effects of tariffs on small businesses.

More than 70% of small business owners, according to a group survey, are unable to plan adequately when dealing with the “whiplash effect” of trade policy.

Small businesses frequently lack the capacity to withstand unexpected financial setbacks, despite the fact that they can be more agile than bigger ones.

For this reason, Lindor’s supply business is varied. Although medical supplies make up the core of his business, he also makes corporate advertising products and provides hair to beauty customers.

In addition to suppliers in Europe, Haiti, and Central and South Asia, he also uses suppliers based in the United States. Lindor stated that prices from his U.S. suppliers are increasing in addition to the duties on his imports.

However, Lindor claimed that his group is accustomed to handling pandemonium. LMI Textiles was in a unique position to collaborate with other small suppliers to cover supply shortages during the COVID-19 epidemic.

“People became acquainted with one another. Lindor remarked, “We met virtually and we still meet virtually and do big deals with each other.”

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They remain allies, pooling resources to stay alive, whether it’s exchanging inventory to fulfill demand or bundling shipments to keep unit pricing low.

Over 20 public health departments nationwide get harm reduction programs from Lindor. Due to a contract that caps pricing for three years as his expenses increase, his $5,000 large tariff charge is linked to his work.

“For a small business, every little detail and amount matters,” stated Shavon Smith, a business lawyer and founder of the small and medium-sized business law firm The SJS Law Firm.

“If you are a large business, you can maybe close down one or two stores to affect your bottom line,” she stated. “You can search for new product suppliers. Perhaps you might reduce the amount of what you do or discontinue a product line.

Smith also owns a small company in Washington, D.C.

“Every time I look up some service that I need to run my business has increased in price or some product, whatever it is that I use in order to make our little engine run,” Smith stated. “I’m certainly feeling it as a business owner and I’m feeling it a consumer as well.”

Lindor claims that in order to assist cover the expenses, he hasn’t paid himself, is considering alternative suppliers and routes, and is postponing his plans to construct a warehouse.

“It just it makes it so difficult, obviously, in terms of making decisions and figuring out what to do,” he stated.