Smaller firms, for instance, not only have fewer resources to weather unexpected costs, they also lack the bargaining power of megastores like Walmart to pressure suppliers to lower prices. They may also lack access to lines of credit available to bigger firms.
Nor can they afford long-term contracts that can keep costs down. Doug and Betsy Scheffel, owners of ETM Manufacturing, a custom sheet-metal fabrication and machine shop in Littleton, Mass., have to buy aluminum and steel on the spot market. Since 50 percent tariffs have been slapped on those imported metals, their costs have soared.
“I don’t know how to put a business plan together that makes any sense to anyone,” Mr. Scheffel said. Neither do many of his customers, who have delayed or reduced orders.
Legrand Lindor, the owner of LMI Textiles, a small medical supply and manufacturing company in Milton, Mass., said now not only did he have to handle the increase in prices, but his suppliers also expected him to handle the administration of customs, duty and taxes.
Both he and Mr. Scheffel are members of Small Business for America’s Future, a nonprofit membership group in Washington that has been complaining about unpredictable tariff policies. The group also worries about a ballooning national debt, cuts in health programs that small businesses and their families rely on and tax cuts that disproportionately benefit large corporations.
Mr. Scheffel said he had trimmed his staff in anticipation of federal reductions in health care spending because they won’t be able to afford either the insurance he offers or the public plan from Massachusetts.
