Minnesota Retailers Preparing for Cost Increases Due To Tariffs

UNDATED (WJON News) -- Minnesota's retailers a preparing for increased costs as President Donald Trump's tariffs go into effect.

We're hearing from our members whether they are the smallest main street retailer up to the largest that they really think this round of tariffs is going to have an impact across the board, and unfortunately, most retailers are not at a point where they'll be able to absorb those costs, or their suppliers either, so we're likely to see some impact on the Minnesota pocketbook.

Minnesota Retailers President Bruce Nustad says he expects the price impacts at the wholesale and retail level will be in weeks, not months, from now.

He says the retail calendar also has many store owners already thinking about placing their holiday orders and their price points for Christmas shopping.

Nustad says the world we live in even most of our favorite Made In America goods have some inputs that come from overseas, so it's difficult to avoid the tariffs.

Nustad says that back in 2018 when Trump imposed tariffs during his first term in office, those were more surgical.

These are obviously much more widespread, so you can't even shift the supply chain to a different country.  I definitely think the tariffs are broad enough that you are going to see some impact all the way around, small retailers, mid-size retailers, and large retailers.

Nustad says the retail economy was also much different in 2018. Post-pandemic, in light of inflation, retailers' profit margins are much smaller.

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He says Minnesota Retailers believe in a fair and balanced trade policy, and there is work to be done, but we need to be cautious about how we do it.

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