‘Can This Be Right?’: Reddit’s Small Business Community Is Freaking Out Over Trump’s Tariffs

President Donald Trump has dubiously claimed he wants to be the champion of America’s working class, but his new trade policies seem more likely to kill small businesses and put plenty of working men and women out of a job.

Indeed, Trump’s tariff policies aren’t just terrifying Wall Street. They’re also freaking out small business owners, as can be seen by a sudden glut of comments on Reddit’s r/smallbusiness subreddit. There, small business owners can be seen fretting over everything from skyrocketing import duties to the increased costs that they will have to pass on to their customers.

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One apparent business owner who recently ordered aluminum parts from China expressed amazement at the sudden escalation in import fees. User “eopcido” wrote:

We have a small business and ordered $3,380 worth of aluminum parts from China. Parts entered USA on 3/31/25. DHL requires $2,483.21 for “import duty” or they will send back the parts 5 days…Can this be right?

A commenter explained the newly added costs to the business owner: “You can expect to add 34% to all future orders, with the possibility of an additional 50% increase after this week. This brings the total potential increase to 156.5%.”

“In case everyone hasn’t figured it out yet, Trump and Co don’t want us buying anything from China anymore,” another commenter noted.

Another Redditor, who said that they own a retail store, explained how the expected import prices could totally upend their business: “We are looking at anywhere from 20%-60%,” they said, apparently referencing price increases. “That will absolutely destroy my business. Im super worried.” Keep in mind, these comments were coming before China added an additional 84 percent tariff on Tuesday night.

Background-pickle389, said that their bamboo clothing business would “likely have to close” due to the exponential increase in costs spurred by the tariffs:

Does anyone have any American based manufacturers? I’m devastated that all my hard work is going to be pulled out from underneath. I just hit my 10,000 order last week and don’t know what to do now. My shop is too small to absorb the cost of it all, but I know raising prices isn’t feasible since our cost of living is about to go astronomically high.

Another user, Coachellahopefull, explained their own predicament with a European import business they’d built up:

My uncle owns a pottery studio in Poland, my mom and I have been wholesaling the product here in the US for the last 20 years. We’ve been holding our breath waiting to see what the tariffs were going to be. It looks like it’s going to be 20% for European products. We have 2 containers on the way to the US right now, 50% of the product already is sold and we cannot change the pricing on it. This will be so detrimental to our company and I just don’t know what we should do.

Many users have discussed adding “tariff charge” line items to their receipts so that customers understand the increased prices are a result of the Trump administration’s economic policies, not random price gouging. On one small business owner’s thread, a commenter said: “Let people know it’s tariffs that are at fault for your higher prices. If it’s true, it passes some of the blame from you to the administration, which can help change things. A lot of people don’t watch the news, and they should know that it’s directly affecting them.”

One misinformed user made the unfortunate decision to create a post asking fellow r/smallbusiness Redditors whether they thought Trump’s tariffs would “help small business owners.” The retribution was ruthless and swift.

“LOL,” one user posted. “LMFAO.”

“This is a dumb fucking question,” another chimed in.

“It will definitely help some businesses,” another added. “Mainly bankruptcy lawyers and undertakers.”