In Gainesville, Florida, a small city in the north-central part of the state, small businesses and shoppers are bracing for the impacts of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
The Trump administration announced a baseline of 10% tariffs on nearly every country in the world last week, with much higher rates on countries such as China, Taiwan and Vietnam, and 20% tariffs on European Union countries.
The tariffs are expected to increase prices on household goods, clothing, electronics and groceries; the Budget Lab at Yale University reported the tariffs could cost the average US household $3,800.
As criticism of the tariffs has mounted, the White House has touted support for the tariffs from “everyday Americans”. And in Gainesville, that message seems to have worked – for now.
“Make America great again,” said Justin Godwin, an electrical contractor in Ocala, Florida, just south of Gainesville. “We are not the world police, nor are we the global providers of welfare.”
Kim Roberts Rogel, a retiree in Lakeland, Florida, added: “Go, Trump. He’s a businessman and knows exactly what he is doing.”
Samantha Gore, a stay-at-home mom in Interlachen, Florida, just west of Gainesville, repeated a claim from Trump that Canada has 250% tariffs on some products, though the truth is more complicated: there are also zero tariffs on thousands of metric tons of US dairy that Canada imports, thanks to a deal brokered by Trump in his first administration, and the US dairy industry isn’t reaching the levels of import quotas on any dairy products to receive the maximum tariffs from Canada.
“Why is it OK for the rest of the world to charge us, but when we start doing the same, everyone has a fit? This is a short-term sacrifice for long-term gain,” Gore said. “The gain will be for the American people because this will bring back better-paying jobs, better-quality goods, not China-sweatshop or slave-labor goods, and it will keep our money in our economy instead of sending it overseas.”
But others are worried. And nationally, consumer and small-business confidence is falling as the tariffs loom.
Gainesville, home to the University of Florida, with a population of just more than 145,000, is a blue dot surrounded by counties that voted for Trump. Trump won the state in 2024 by 13.1% points.
Gainesville, along with Tallahassee, Orlando, Broward and Palm Beach counties in southern Florida, had among the last vestiges of Democratic support in the 2024 election, as the state trended from a swing state that Barack Obama won in 2008 and 2012 to a Republican stronghold.
“As far as shopping goes, we have cut back considerably on spending for several months,” said 74-year-old Cynthia Bertelsen of Gainesville, who is fearful of a looming economic recession and anticipating price increases on coffee, olive oil, paper products, wine and other food items.
“Trump’s unyielding stance on the tariffs has caused my family to lose money we can ill afford to lose.”
Grocery prices in Florida are among the highest in the US, ranking fifth out of 50 states in a 2024 analysis of US Census Bureau data.
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“Prices are already too high,” said Sammie Bartz of Gainesville, who said they’ve been pre-buying their kids’ clothing for the next school year from Shein, as well as some electronics. “I’m done spending for a while on anything that is not absolutely essential.”
Sweetwater Organic Coffee Company, a coffee-roasting company based in Gainesville that supplies coffee to several grocery stores, coffee shops and restaurants in the area, was already anticipating having to hike prices as coffee costs had just hit a record high before the tariffs were enacted.
“All of our fellow importers with whom I have spoken will be passing the cost of tariffs along to their roastery clients. Our margins at the importing and roasting point in the supply chain are quite slim in normal times, and I know no one who will or can absorb these tariff costs on behalf of the next point in the supply chain,” said Bill Harris, chief financial officer of Sweetwater.
Harris explained the company had been in the process of adding $0.60-$1.20 per pound of coffee to wholesale prices before the tariffs, noting the tariff taxes will have to be passed along, with at least $1-$3 per pound added for high-tariff origin coffees from Indonesia, Laos and Nicaragua.
Coffee can only be grown in tropical climates and is often sourced from developing countries, several of which have received higher tariff rates, such as Indonesia at 32%, Nicaragua at 18% and Laos at 48%.
“Everyone that I have spoken to about these tariffs in our industry feels that this administration’s chaotic ‘liberation day’ tariff rollout is only hurting importers, roasters and thousands of coffee shops across the country, which were already struggling due to the unprecedented rise in coffee prices and the uncertainty and disruptions created by this administration’s first three months in office,” added Harris.
“The net result of our president’s short-sighted tax grab is inflation for consumers, destabilizing our supply relationships and added stress on thousands of coffee businesses that were already struggling.”
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
