Companies across the country are waiting on the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the legality of President Trump's tariff war. Throughout his second term, Trump has used tariffs to pressure countries into trade deals, punish those who impede his foreign policy objectives and retaliate against critics.
These tariffs have been implemented haphazardly, with many businesses struggling to budget for the future. That’s especially true for small businesses who import food and beverages like coffee, chocolate, wine or other items that aren't produced at a large scale in the U.S.
"[Stone Creek Coffee] has to import every single bean, and they do 600,000 beans a year — which is no small number," says journalist Drew Dawson. "But that cost means they had to pay an additional $270,000 on tariffs alone last year."
For this month's Milwaukee Magazine, Dawson chatted with folks from Stone Creek, Chocolate Sommelier, 2A Wine Merchants and Pan-Asia Supermarket to see how they're handling tariff uncertainty. He spoke with Lake Effect's Joy Powers to share what he found.
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