June 11, 2025 11:58 AM
This video breaks down what tariffs are and how they impact everyday prices, jobs, and the overall economy. Based on an article from the University of Colorado Boulder, it explains who really pays for tariffs and why they can have far-reaching effects—especially for lower-income families. By Monty Davis
At Rochester Brewing and Roasting Company in Kansas City, President Donald Trump’s tariffs have already prompted the small business to hit pause on expansion plans. Customer price hikes could come next.
David Bulcock, the brewery-roaster’s general manager and managing partner, said Rochester had navigated the pandemic after opening in 2019 and the market was normalizing. Then “this stuff” – the tariffs – happened.
“We love our customers. We don’t want to charge them more than we need to, but the reality of the situation is the cost of business keeps going up,” Bulcock said.
Bulcock and a handful of other Kansas City-area business leaders gathered at Rochester on Tuesday to condemn the Trump administration’s tariffs and warn that without changes higher prices are on the way. The news conference was part of Tariffs Cost Us, a national campaign against the president’s trade war.
Businesses in Kansas City – and across the nation – have been scrambling to deal with the fallout of tariffs ever since Trump announced a slew of tariffs on dozens of nations on what he called “Liberation Day” in early April. The White House also separately waged a tariff battle with China, a massive U.S. trading partner, that sent the price of imports rising.
As summer approaches with the tariffs still in place, some local businesses have grown more vocal in speaking out in opposition. Because of the pace of the global supply chain and the ability of some businesses to stockpile goods, customers in some instances have been shielded from price increases so far. They warn that will soon change.
Sheryl White, owner of The Fiddly Fig, a flower shop in southern Kansas City, said she received notice the cost of the 6-inch baskets her shop uses is rising from $3.95 to over $8.
“I can’t charge the same price because I would be at a loss,” White said.
Rochester, which has already opened a second location in Parkville, had been weighing potentially two more shops prior to the tariffs, Bulcock said. The business employs about 40 people currently but additional locations would have meant more jobs, he added.
Even after shelving the expansion plans for now, tariffs may still trigger price increases. A single-origin arabica coffee bean from Vietnam could fall casualty to tariffs. Trump has imposed a 46% tariff on the country, but it remains paused while trade talks remain ongoing. The bean is a favorite of customers and Bulcock, who uses it in a beer he brews.
“At some point we may come to terms with we’re going to have to stop insulating our customers from potential price increases and start seeing that occur,” Bulcock said.
The White House has said Trump is enacting “his transformational vision for liberating Americans from the unfair trade practices that have gripped workers and businesses for decades.”
‘Recipe for disaster’
The Republican-controlled Congress has the power to alter or end Trump’s tariffs but so far measures to reassert congressional authority haven’t passed the U.S. House. Bulcock urged the public to contact their members of Congress.
While some GOP lawmakers oppose the tariffs or have expressed skepticism, others have voiced hearty support. In an op-ed after “Liberation Day,” Rep. Mark Alford, a Missouri Republican representing areas east and south of Kansas City, wrote that foreign trade practices had created a “national emergency.”
“President Trump’s tariffs are a direct and proportional reaction to these long-standing and disastrous problems — and his use of emergency powers to implement them is well justified,” Alford wrote.
The U.S. Court of International Trade disagrees. Last month, the court struck down Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, finding that an emergency powers law invoked by the president didn’t authorize him to impose the tariffs. The Trump administration appealed, and a federal appeals court has left the tariffs in place while it considers the case.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat whose district includes Rochester’s flagship shop in the Crossroads, has previously called Trump’s tariff policies a “recipe for disaster.”
“Missouri families, including our farmers, are already struggling with the cost of living, but rather than focusing on lowering essentials like groceries, housing, and healthcare, President Trump has instigated a reckless trade war—and the American people will pay the price,” Cleaver said in a statement earlier this spring.
Melissa Miller, director of the World Trade Center Kansas City, said the biggest concern expressed by the local business community is the lack of a consistent tariff policy. The White House has raised and lowered tariff rates multiple times on a variety of countries and products in recent months.
“The unpredictability and instability make it harder for long-term business planning,” Miller said.
Bulcock said tariffs can be a tool but that they’ve been used in a way that demonstrates a lack of how the global economy operates for small businesses. The result is “real harm,” he said.
“Without leadership, small businesses like ours … can’t grow, we can’t hire,” Bulcock said.
Read the story: HERE
