by: Joey Schneider
Posted: May 29, 2025 / 04:02 PM CDT
ST. LOUIS – Several small business owners gathered Thursday in St. Louis to speak out against a new wave of U.S. tariffs they say are driving up operating costs, disrupting supply chains and making it harder for businesses to survive.
A Thursday news conference, organized by national advocacy group Tariffs Cost Us, featured testimony from three St. Louis-based entrepreneurs, each highlighting how tariffs are challenging their industries.
In April, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a sweeping new trade policy that imposes tariffs on many of the nation’s top trading partners, including a 10% baseline tariff on all imports and steeper rates on countries with significant trade surpluses with the U.S. – most notably a 34% tariff on Chinese goods and 20% on imports from the European Union, according to the Associated Press.
Two federal court rulings, including one on Thursday, have temporarily blocked key portions of the plan, finding that Trump cannot claim unilateral authority to impose tariffs by declaring a national emergency over trade deficits. Still, an appeals court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to keep collecting from tariffs while a legal appeal proceeds.
The legal and economic uncertainty has left many St. Louis local businesses on edge.
Big Heart Tea Company
Beth Burns, general manager of Big Heart Tea Company, founded her company out of St. Louis in 2012, which specializes in organic, plastic-free teas made with global ingredients. The company expanded to national distribution in 2017.
Burns acknowledged that the company’s tea is not readily grown in the United States, and Big Heart Tea Company depends on raw materials come from other countries. She says the company is navigating unpredictable supply chain issues because of that, including when certain supplies might come and how much they will cost upon arrival.
“We’re trying to keep our team and our small business up,” said Burns. “The uncertainty of everything and the constant change of the news on the tariffs is what’s keeping us a little stressed out these days. Right when we think we’ve got something nailed, it changes.”
Burns noted her company recently paid $3,000 in tariffs on one shipment of tea bag materials, doubling the original $3,000 shipping cost.
“We want people to understand that tariffs are a tax on small businesses,” said Burns. “We need a government that’s in our corner and cares about small businesses and small manufacturers that are driving the country.”
Beauty Supply Refresh
Trinita Rhodes, co-owner of Beauty Supply Refresh, launched her business in 2020. She echoed similar concerns.
Rhodes’ business serves customers in need of hair essentials and medical wigs, particularly those experiencing hair loss from alopecia or cancer treatment.
“With the impact of the tariffs and with the wig industry primarily being made and being shipped from China, my customers can expect to see maybe a 25 to 35% increase,” said Rhodes. She anticipated, for example, a wig that initially cost $59 may now cost upwards of $100.
Rhodes added that her company is experiencing shipping delays and supplier hesitation as ripple effects of tariff uncertainties. She said she is not only worried about staying open in the long term, but also supporting vulnerable customers.
“We want our customers to know that we are definitely thinking of them. We are concerned for them, but we are also thinking about our businesses. This is our livelihood,” said Rhodes.
Switchgrass Spirits
Nick Colombo, co-founder of north St. Louis whiskey distillery Switchgrass Spirits, said the company tires to locally source whenever possible, but tariffs have already led them to make some strategic and costly decisions.
For example, Colombo said Switchgrass used its line of credit to stockpile glass bottles from Italy ahead of the expected price hike. But tariffs on other essentials, including corks from Portugal and various packaging materials, are squeezing profit margins thin.
The company has also halted plans to export whisky to European and South Korean markets due to uncertainty to tariffs. “Instead, we are going to try to sell to Chicago and Tulsa,” he said. “There is no chance of us making that huge of a commitment in time and money to open up a new market with this uncertainty.”
Colombo also warned that if tariffs prevent large producers from exporting their products, the domestic market could become flooded with excess supply, depressing prices and hurting smaller distillers.
“If those bottles don’t go overseas because of a massive tariff, they’re going to want to be sold here and that’s going to flood this industry,” said Colombo. “We are the local manufacturer. We are the people who are bringing money into a community and it is hurting our business.”
All three speakers agreed that tariffs are not only driving up various costs, but also threatening the viability of small businesses and customers they serve.
Story: HERE
