Businesses in San Francisco are scrambling to figure out ways to survive as global markets have been shaken by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs enacted or threatened on its major trade partners and allies in recent weeks.
The New Wheel, an electric bike store in San Franciso, sources globally, particularly from China. It has sold e-bikes for 15 years before they were cool, and now with thousands of sales yearly.
The co-founder of the New Wheel said the bike and e-bike industry has become so internationalized that it's hard to find almost any part that was manufactured in the USA.
"Almost certainly manufactured in China. This saddle, I would guess, as well. Like things you are pretty familiar with. This is made in China," said Karen Wiener, co-owner and CEO of the bike shop.
The New Wheel also repairs thousands of e-bikes every year, which means new tariffs on both China and Europe making it hard for them to get everything from batteries, spokes, fenders to nuts and bolts.
"It just all makes business less stable and less predictable. So if I tell the customer, oh, it's going to take this amount of time to get a part. I might be wildly off base if the whole production, planning, and logistical time frame has changed. But at the end of the day, the costs are passed on," said Wiener.
In San Francisco's Chinatown, many shops were initially optimistic about a strong economic start to the year of the snake. But conditions quickly changed.
Despite being in business for 53 years, Ellison Chinese Medicine Herbal Shop said the latest round of tariffs caught them by surprise.
"A few years ago, they raised a 25 percent tariff. It's already a big jump. But now this is another additional 20 percent that kicks in. That really hurts. You know, when you're doing business it's very hard when you have uncertainty," said Edward Lau, owner of the herb shop.
He said with slim margins on their products, they have no choice but to raise prices.
"I really feel bad about that. Our customer base is basically, is from people who are living on a fixed income. So those are the people (who) get really hurt," he said.
San Francisco businesses feel pain from Trump's tariffs
San Francisco businesses feel pain from Trump's tariffs
