Montclair small business owners say tariffs are impacting their profits
The owners say that their biggest issue is the tariffs on products that are not grown or made in the United States.
Small business owners in Montclair gathered at the Paper Plane Coffee Company on Thursday to discuss the impacts of tariffs on their businesses.
The owners say that their biggest issue is the tariffs on products that are not grown or made in the United States.
"We import coffee from all over the world. And so the tariffs affect us when we deal with these importers because coffee isn't grown to scale in the United States,” said Jonathan Echeverry, owner of Paper Plane Coffee Company. “There is coffee grown in Hawaii, parts of California and Puerto Rico, but all of those combined don't produce enough to deal with the sheer volume that us Americans consume."
"I think putting tariffs on things that we don't grow and are a necessity…there is no point for it. We don't grow cacao, we don't grow coffee and those things are essential,” says Roger Rodriguiz, co-owner of Vesta Chocolate.
The organizers say that the goal of the event was to spread the word to lawmakers that the tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump are creating significant financial uncertainty.
