Chinatowns nationwide feeling impact of Trump tariffs on China

Shoppers in Chinatowns across the United States will likely see an increase in prices following the 20% tariff imposed on China by President Trump.

“The customer base is mostly people living on fixed incomes. They’ll be hit really hard,” said Edward Lau of Lau’s Ellison Enterprises in San Francisco to CBS5.

Lau purchases herbal products in bulk and then packages them for his customers.

He’s already increased the price of a ginseng from $88 per pound to $100.

This tariff hike is a replay from Trump’s first term in office when he imposed a 25% increase on China. Citing a report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that led to a $7.2 billion dollar loss in real income in the United States in 2018.

Biden took office and continued the tariffs, costing American consumers an extra $200 to $300 annually.

In New York’s Chinatown, it’s estimated the latest tariff hike will cost the average consumer another 8% in price increases.

“Our working-class community here in Chinatown is definitely, in these circumstances, always being hit the hardest,” shop owner Mei Lum of Wing On Wo & Co said about the strain on business owners to NBC News. “And a lot of them have told me that their solution to mitigating these circumstances has been to eat those costs and only raise those prices by a smidgen, just to make sure they’re affordable for the people that frequent their establishments. … How long can they sustain that?”