Local businesses brace for impacts of tariffs

ST. LOUIS (First Alert 4) -- Manufacturers and other businesses are seeing increased costs following the announcement of tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico and China.

John Klorer, the owner of Car-Anth Manufacturing, said that the cost of steel, aluminum, brass and other metals has increased around 5% in the past few weeks. He expects those costs to continue to rise as new 25% tariffs take effect.

“It’s happened overnight,” Klorer said. “We don’t know where it’s going to land.”

Klorer has been skeptical about the Trump istration’s claims that the tariffs will help to bolster U.S. manufacturing in the long run. He feared that consumers would instead end up bearing the cost.

“There could be so much collateral damage,” he said. “For what? I don’t know.”

On Wednesday the Trump istration appeared to soften its approach to tariffs, delaying the import taxes for GM, Stellantis and Ford.

But Dennis Phillips, the owner of Broadway Ford, worried that their effects on the industry could raise prices. Kelly Blue Book estimates that the average cost of a new car could go up $3,000 if the tariffs took effect.

Phillips said that even U.S. automakers depend heavily on imported parts.

“I don’t want to have to charge more,” Phillips said. “Our profit margins are slim, like all car dealers. I don’t want to have to cut into that or charge people more but that’s where this is going.”

Ben Benmamoun, a business professor at Saint Louis University, said it was too early to tell whether tariffs would help to bolster the U.S. economy.

He explained that U.S. consumers typically benefit from free trade and that even the threat of added tariffs could erode consumer confidence as well as international trade relations.

Benmamoun felt that the Trump istration’s push to tax imports was an experiment in protectionist policies.

“The prospect doesn’t look positive,” Benmamoun said. “Consumers are already concerned because of inflation. Now you add this layer that’s going to make it worse. Things are going to get more expensive. You’re going to see more saving and stuff like that.”

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