Small business owners in Colorado preparing as best they can for the impact tariffs might have

Small business owners in Colorado — and all over the country — are preparing as best they can for the impact tariffs might have on their businesses. Since his inauguration, President Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel, 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada that aren’t compliant with a free-trade agreement, a massive 145% duty on Chinese imports, a 25% tariff on cars with separate tariffs on auto parts coming later and a 10% baseline tariff on all U.S. imports.

The tariffs on China impact everything from furniture to apparal to kids’ toys, and in the case of M-Mart in Aurora, food prices.

That’s why Augustine Lee’s storerooms are packed to the brim, and they have been since last year. Augustine says when he heard then-candidate Trump talking about tariffs, he knew it would hit his Korean grocery store hard.

“This is from China. Most of them are from China,” Lee said, pointing at a stack of dried noodles.

He has owned his Korean market for more than 42 years, and there are some things that he must import from China. Like kimchi, or certain brands of noodles.

And with 145% tariffs on anything coming from China, he says restocking would be too expensive.

“This one for example, it was $10. Now … $35,” he said about dried sweet potato noodles.

Or nearly impossible. As he learned recently when he tried to order more kimchi.

“I tried to order this one. Fifty more boxes. Out of stock in California,” said Lee.

So, each of his four Denver area stores are stocked full of things his customers love but he may not be able to get again soon.

He says it’s not all bad news, however. Some of the products he carries from places other than China have dropped prices.

“It used to be that these were $10. $9.99. But now they are on sale,” he said about Korean made noodles.

Augustine says he thinks he has enough backstock of Chinese products to last him five more months, but then he may have to make some tough decisions. But he says that no matter what happens, he will keep his prices the same for his loyal customers.

“I have to, you know … to keep my customers,” said Lee.

Michael Abeyta