- Local businesses are bracing for potential price jumps from foreign tariffs.
- President Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on European alcohol products should the E.U. not revoke its 50% tariff on American whiskey.
- Watch the video to learn about the avenues and precautions local business owners are taking.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Developments in President Trump's efforts to tax foreign countries have businesses closer to home bracing for potential impact. I'm Kenya Cardonne in the Northeast Tallahassee neighborhood. Business owners in our community say tariffs could have both positive and negative impacts, but that regardless of the outcome, they've got to prepare.
Kent Steels, Owner of Clusters & Hops - "That 200% tariff is going to be tricky on European goods."
Local businesses are reeling in from a recent post on Truth Social, where President Trump threatened a 200% tariff on European alcoholic products if the E.U. doesn't remove its 50% tariff on American whiskey.
Steels - "The prices for the imported cheeses and the champagnes are just going to.. they're going to be out of touch. You won't be able to even afford it."
About 35% of the wines carried at Clusters and Hops have foreign labels.
Owner Kent Steels says he will have to bump up prices if tariffs hit the different countries from which he sources his products.
Steels - "I do carry a little Chinese wine, but if they get tariffed, they're going to go way up."
Which sounds like it could be a good bump in revenue if rising prices don't send neighbors running to online retailers.
On the other hand, Steels says it's opened his eyes towards other options of sourcing wine, including right from within the US.
Steels - "Now you have to think outside the box and maybe find some other wineries from other places, and there's some very small ones that need to be recognized."
Also getting the ball rolling locally is Lofty Pursuits, where toys and chocolate are sourced from foreign countries, too.
Greg Cohen, Owner of Lofty Pursuits - "I don't have to deal with customs or import duties, but I'm going to feel it. And what I'm afraid of is that my toy prices will go out of the price range of my customers. I'm doing all this travel for the customers who count on me to provide a good product."
After the president was elected, Owner Greg Cohen booked a trip to Germany to research other ways to source his toys.
He explains that the back-and-forth with tariffs puts uncertainty on how to plan for impacts.
Cohen - "Most of the European companies make their toys in China, but quite a few don't. And I'm trying to stock up on those, but I don't know now he's talking about tariffs there too. So what does this leave me?"
Amid the uncertainty, Cohen tells me the best thing he can do now is remain positive and flexible.
Cohen - "I'm going to have some stuff nobody's ever seen before in my store, and it's gonna be awfully cool, but I'm working much, much harder to do this job that I've been doing for soon 32 years."
At Clusters and Hops, other products they're keeping an eye on include cheeses often imported from Europe and caviar from Canada. Luckily, the owner tells me there are American options to lean on for those products as well. In Northeast Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne ABC 27.
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