Embroidered polo shirts have been $11.99 at Jack Yonally’s clothing store for the last eight years.
Men’s underwear go for $8.99.
Yonally said those competitive prices have kept B. Lodge and Company in business since 1867, when it first opened its doors in downtown Albany.
“I have customers that come in, and they might be in their 90s, and they say, ‘Well, since I was a little girl, I've shopped here. My mother used to bring me in here,’” he said. “That is very rewarding.”
But times are changing. President Donald Trump’s trade war with China and 10% baseline tariffs on other countries have put the American central bank in a “challenging scenario,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned last week.
The tariffs, which have pitted stable inflation and healthy employment levels against each other, directly implicate small American businesses that rely heavily on Chinese imports – from clothing and plastics companies to stores that sell electronics.
That means business owners across the country, including New Yorkers like Yonally, have a decision to make: absorb the import taxes, raise prices, or something in between.
Senate Democrats are planning to force a vote next week to reverse the tariffs. “American families, restaurants and manufacturers will be able to breathe a sigh of relief if we can get that done,” New York Sen. Chuck Schumer told reporters on Monday in Albany.
And Yonally has been holding his breath in recent weeks. In gearing up for fall shopping, Yonally tried to make some more orders that would arrive later in the summer. But his vendors told him there was a problem.
“One of my main resources that I ordered from said, ‘Jack, I can hold prices through the end of April. I have stock in this country. I can't promise after that, because I don't know,’” Yonally said.
He said he hates the idea of raising prices. He sells scrubs to hospital workers in the Capitol Region and offers student uniforms for nearly 30 public, charter and parochial schools. With his business surpluses, Yonally said he’s been able to donate 8,500 winter jackets each year to those in need.
But if he wants to stay afloat, he said, he might have to implement a price hike.
“I don't want to have customers coming in here where I have to have (them) at $14.99,” Yonally said of his embroidered polo shirts. “Because all I'll hear from them is, ‘Why?’”
That "why” would be because American businesses would have to pay for the tariff charge once items reach U.S. ports. Dylan Hewitt, who served in the Biden administration as deputy assistant U.S. trade representative, said that has “real consequences for New Yorkers and New York’s families.”
"Your small business owner is not going to be able to flip their supply chain overnight to avoid extra costs,” said Hewitt, who was on a shortlist of Democratic candidates to run to replace U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-17) in a short-lived special election. “It can result in tighter margins, tighter balance sheets. It could result in layoffs. It could result in higher prices for your consumer.”
Jim Young owns Young Explosives, a fireworks company in Canandaigua. He said given the current financial instability, he is planning on adding a surcharge to fireworks shows his company puts on for towns across the state. Like most other U.S. fireworks companies, Young Explosives orders about 80% of its fireworks from China, which has a stronghold over the pyrotechnics industry globally.
Because of China’s dominance in the sector, Young and other fireworks companies say one of the most patriotic events in the country – Fourth of July fireworks shows – stand to be affected.
Young had recently ordered three shipments from factories there. One hit American soil right as the first wave of tariffs kicked in. It came with a 25% tariff. He put another shipment on hold because of the financial uncertainty. The last shipment is already en route, set to arrive in the summer, so it was too late for him to cancel the order. He has no idea what tariff will get slapped onto that.
“It's going to be a pretty big financial hit, which, unfortunately, will roll over to communities that I do business with,” Young said.
Young, whose company puts on about 500 events each year, said he hasn’t figured out how to break the news to his clients.
"I've wrestled with what I want to say, because I feel bad having to tell people,” Young said.
These import taxes aren’t a surprise. Young, who voted for Trump, said he expected the tariffs would come eventually, seeing how much Trump talked about them on the campaign trail.
He knew if Trump was going to follow through on his promise for tariffs, he and other companies like his would have to pay up. But he said he heard someone on the radio suggest someone besides companies would cover the costs of the tariffs.
“I was shocked,” Young said of the misunderstanding that exists around tariffs. “There's actual live people that own these companies that are having to pay this, not the government. ... They’re not giving anybody any breaks.”
He said he wished that Trump would have implemented a more gradual approach to the tariffs. But Young said is optimistic it could help rebuild some aspects of American manufacturing.
Young and other people in the pyrotechnics industry are requesting Trump exempt fireworks from the tariffs. And Young is crossing his fingers that Trump will issue one, before his next shipment arrives.
Yonally said he also hopes for a day when more products would be made in the U.S.
“That’s what the President is trying to push for, I know,” Yonally said. “It's a wonderful idea, but I don't know at what cost.”
