Clark County business owners voiced concerns about the impact of federal trade policies and rising costs during a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
The meeting, hosted at the Short & Sweet Boba Shop in downtown Vancouver, centered on tariffs imposed by the Trump administration squeezing local shops, restaurants and manufacturers
The “Liberation Day” tariffs are a broad package of import duties announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on April 2, 2025. Earlier this month, a federal circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the president exceeded his authority by establishing reciprocal tariffs. The U.S. Supreme Court is slated to make a final decision in November.
Sonny Mouy, owner of Short & Sweet Boba Shop, said he opened his café in 2022 with the hope of creating an affordable gathering spot for families and students in downtown Vancouver. Now, tariffs on imported goods are cutting into his margins and making that vision harder to sustain. Mouy said he has tried to bulk-purchase supplies ahead of tariff increases, but that ties up cash and leaves him carrying more inventory than he can comfortably move.
“These Trump tariffs are like a tax on small businesses and their customers,” Murray said after the roundtable. “They are making everything more expensive at a time when families are already struggling, and that’s why I believe Congress has to act.”
Alan O’Hara, owner of When the Shoe Fits, said footwear prices are climbing steeply, and by January, many new shipments will arrive with tariff-driven increases baked in. He explained that much of the footwear his stores sell is manufactured overseas, in countries such as Vietnam, which are heavily impacted by the tariffs. Some shoes, he noted, will now cost more than what Medicaid allows under durable medical equipment coverage.
“Our shoe prices are going to go up, and in some cases they now exceed what Medicaid allows,” he said. “That means customers who rely on medical allowances won’t be able to afford them. We’re stuck with inventory that costs more to land, and fewer people are able to buy it.”
Marty Lopes, owner of Terrain Coffee, echoed the concern, noting that even small price jumps, from $5 to $7 for a cup of coffee, are enough to change consumer behavior. He said he has already raised prices about 30 percent on the retail coffee beans he roasts in-house, but has held off on raising prices for drinks as long as possible to preserve coffee as an accessible community experience. As coffee beans are mostly imported into the U.S., businesses such as Terrain Coffee are heavily impacted by tariffs.
“We still want someone to come in and be able to experience that shared community,” Lopes said. “But if costs keep climbing, I don’t know how long we can sustain it.”
Ann Matthews, co-owner of Arktana and Bigfoot Mountain Outfitters, said her higher-end clothing and shoe stores are facing “confused and concerned” customers. She explained that her buying seasons stretch months in advance, forcing difficult choices about which products to stock as tariffs hit imports.
“I don’t want to bait and switch my customers,” Matthews said. “But I know prices are going to change, and they know it too.”
Janet Kenefsky, Chief Operating Officer of the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, said members across industries are reporting higher costs and “a lot of uncertainty” about how to plan ahead.
Murray said that while Democrats are already pushing for relief, she believes many Republicans are privately hoping the court intervenes so they can avoid a political confrontation with Trump.
“I can tell you there are a number of Republicans in the Senate who are getting extremely nervous about the price increases. They are hearing from their small businesses as well. Many of them are hearing from their farmers … I think they are secretly hoping that the Supreme Court will rule in the right way for them on this so they don’t have to go against the president, but if the Supreme Court doesn’t, we have to act,” Murray said.
When asked about the administration’s positioning of the tariffs, Murray affirmed that the tariffs’ impact on businesses makes it a tax on the consumer.
“Trump keeps saying that tariff is not a tax, but you just heard every one of these business owners tell you that it is a tax,” Murray said. “They have to pay extra to buy their products, so it's a tax on them that is then a tax on their customers.”
“We met with a manufacturer this last week who made $1 million, which was for him on any other given day would be fantastic,” O’Hara added. “$830,000 of it got taxed.
