Tariffs on paper products hit Las Vegas small businesses

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Tariffs on paper products are already hitting the bottom lines of small businesses across the Las Vegas Valley, as consumers worry about the future impact on everyday supplies in stores.

The chef and owner of Esther’s Kitchen, Ada’s Food and Wine, Bar Boheme and Al Solito Posto speaks to FOX5 about the surge of prices for paper goods – an extra $700 a week, per restaurant.

Restaurants rely on numerous paper goods for customers and for cleaning supplies such as menus, napkins, table lining, bathroom towels, business cards, to-go boxes, receipt paper and much more.

“It’s beyond sticker shock,” Trees said.

“It’s so odd to have something that is such a static price double, and then double again within two weeks. That’s $50,000 a year,” Trees explained. “That’s a cook. That’s a server. That’s a dishwasher, and it’s just like that, money just evaporated overnight,”

Trees has searched through multiple vendors in an attempt to seek alternatives. He says each supplier was simply passing along the cost of tariffs.

“One of my friends down the street actually just ordered pizza boxes. All the pizza boxes come from China. Unfortunately, his $10,000 pizza box order just became $30,000,” Trees shared.

Many manufactured paper products already come from Canada, China and Mexico.

Even U.S. manufacturers of paper products source needed softwood lumber, pulp, cartonboard from neighboring countries and numerous parts of Asia, Europe and South America.

There are concerns whether tariffs could impact supplies such as toilet paper and paper towels, according to Bloomberg, but Yale’s Budget Lab tells The Washington Post, it’s too early to forecast the impacts or even a rise in prices. The Lab advises against stockpiling; you may end up wasting money.

Trees already sees the impact on local restaurants and peoples’ spending habits.

“With the economy where it is, we’ve already started to see a downturn in the restaurants, it’s going to affect day-to-day working people. These tariffs are hurting everyday Americans in every single facet of their lives,” Trees expressed.

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