So topical…

How I’m processing the tariffs going into effect today

Apr 09, 2025

Note from right before publishing:
I’ve been working on this piece since last week, and everything has changed every single day. I’ve revised it over and over, and I bet it won’t even be relevant tomorrow. I was about to hit publish when Trump revoked all reciprocal tariffs from every country, except China, where he raised tariffs from 104% to 125%.

What started as a calm, sort of “thinking through this” piece has turned into a time-sucking revision nightmare because our president seems committed to governing through purposeful chaos.

🔥🔥😡🔥🔥🙃🔥🔥😡🔥🔥🙃🔥🔥😡🔥🔥🙃🔥🔥😡🔥🔥🙃🔥🔥😡🔥🔥🙃🔥🔥😡🔥🔥🙃🔥🔥

Thanks. Now that that’s out of my system…

I wasn’t planning on talking about trade policy for, uh, a while. I’m still figuring out the finances of my own brand, and this feels like a crash course I wasn’t ready to take. But these Trump tariffs are a major shake-up, and like every other small business owner right now, I’m gathering information and trying to process. So I’m sharing my thinking.

Three things up front:

I’m writing this from the perspective of someone running a small fashion brand.
I’m focused on Chinese imports because that’s where my fabric comes from.
I’m not an expert. I’m not an economist or a textile sourcing specialist. I’m just trying to make sense of what’s happening, and I wish I had a fact-checker for half this stuff.

And, I’m just starting out. I was already worried this might be the worst time to launch a brand—and now, it’s looking even worse.

What’s Happening

I started writing this on April 2nd, the day Trump imposed a 10% tariff on all imports and an additional 34% tariff on goods from China. Those numbers stacked to 44%. Then it turned out the 34% was on top of an existing 20% tariff on Chinese goods, bringing the total to 54%.

Then on April 7th, Trump threatened a 50% additional tariff, effective April 9th, if China didn’t back off. NEWS FLASH: China didn’t back off. That brought us to a total of 104% on all Chinese imports.

AND HERE WE ARE ON APRIL 9TH AND THE TARIFFS ARE UP TO 125%

If you’re importing anything from China, your costs are now changing without warning. For me, that means fabric.

To make it real, a $10/yard fabric at 104% becomes $20.40.

AT 125%, THAT’S $22.50.

This is chilling.

All these number were (and are) changing by the hour, which makes all of these even more unstable and difficult to figure out.

Oh, and the markets are tanking. More on that later.

A Quick Economics Lesson (Sort Of)

Again, I’m not an economist. But I live with one.

My partner has spent over a decade in investment banking, now works in impact investing at a global philanthropic foundation, and is a CFA charterholder - one of the most rigorous financial certifications out there. Let’s trust him on this.

When there were first rumblings of tariffs, I asked him to explain these tariffs to me like a child and without bias; he said: “This is straight out of an 1800s textbook.”

As in: mercantilism. The idea that you protect your economy by slapping tariffs on foreign goods. It made sense when countries were hoarding gold and fighting naval wars. Not so much now.

He said (and I’m paraphrasing): it’s like Trump took Econ 101, failed the midterm, and dropped the class.

So even if that logic ever worked (debatable), it definitely doesn’t now. We live in a deeply global economy. Tariffs like these don’t just hurt China. They disrupt global supply chains, raise prices for American consumers, and hit small and large businesses alike. Hard.

The Reality for Small Businesses (Like Mine)

I’m a tiny brand, and my quantities are small. But this still adds up fast.

My cotton fabric is milled in China, shipped to a distributor in LA, then dyed, cut, and sewn in LA.

(FYI: That’s what makes it a Made in USA product, even though the fabric is imported. Most brands that say “Made in USA” are doing exactly this because there is barely any fabric made in the USA. As long as the final construction happens here, it qualifies as USA made.)

If just my fabric cost goes up by 104% (I’m not re-doing the math for 125%, it’s changing too often and I have to publish this and move on for the moment), my unit COGs increase by $4–$10. My Etta dress, which cost $62.88 to make, now costs $69.30. At 50 units, that’s a $321 increase. That’s just one style. I have six.

And that’s just fabric.

Other components like woven labels, hang tags, and poly-mailers are also from China. Trims, dyes, even some equipment are often imported. Higher demand for domestic labor could also push wages up.

For context about other brands that are a bit more built up than mine, 3sixteen recently put out a great explainer.

Decisions, Decisions

Fabric:

Even before this, I was exploring U.S.-milled options. But U.S. textile production is limited, expensive, and mostly geared toward knits. To make the fabric here, we’d first need to import looms and machines, and even those imports are now subject to tariffs.

Even with tariffs, fabric from China (or Japan, Korea, India) is often still cheaper and better. So my costs are going up either way. I may just have to eat it, or find higher-quality fabric from lower-tariff countries.

Labor:

I chose U.S. production because it reflects my values. I care about sustainability, proximity, and supporting garment workers. I hope to produce in the NY Garment District someday. That won’t change unless my business goes fully international.

Price Point:

My costs are going up. So are everyone else’s.

(We’re about to go deep into “economics for dummies” territory, but I’m repeating what helped me understand it. Again, I’m keeping this narrowly focused on how it affects my business [and maybe your small fashion brand or business]).

The stock market has been tanking since Monday (April 7th).

This mostly affects people who are in the market, so mostly wealthy-ish to wealthy people. Most poor people are not invested in the stock market. This also really, really hurts retirees in heartbreaking ways.

Interestingly, when watching the ticker Monday morning, I noticed that almost all stocks were red - except for Dollar Tree, which was green. It was going up. Why?

In a recession (which we are probably entering into) the rich often get richer, the poor get poorer, and spending behavior shifts accordingly. Some people trying to save money will swap Target for Dollar Tree, while others double down on luxury and buy more, say, Louis Vuitton. Interestingly, investors anticipate this split and bet on both ends of the spectrum, putting their money into companies like Dollar Tree and LVMH. This is known, predictable territory for them.

This is where I may have to make my biggest business decision.

I’ve tried to create a luxury product at an accessible price. Some people save up for a $280 dress; others think $280 is cheap. But if the middle disappears, I may have to pick a lane.

I don’t want to price people out. But I want to pay people fairly, make beautiful things, and stay afloat. That’s the tension.

I believe in what luxury means — not just expensive fabrics and marketing, but quality, intention, and care. I wanted to earn that reputation slowly and genuinely, not because of rising tariffs. But realistically, am I going to aim to sell Enketta at Dollar Tree, or Bergdorf Goodman? Hm.

I’ve spent the past year building Enketta from scratch. Every decision has been thoughtful. No overproduction. No trend-chasing. Just beautiful clothes designed and made with care.

I’ve tried to keep my supply chain as ethical and local as possible. But a policy that treats cotton fabric same way it treats a shipping container of steel ripples through everything.

Part of me is relieved I’m still small enough to pivot. Part of me wishes I were big enough to weather this better. But here we are.

I’m sad. I’m mad. I’m nervous. These tariffs are stupid and chaotic. Sorry I’m not more eloquent.

There are so many urgent crises in the world. I’m not claiming this is the most important one. It’s just the one that affects my business right now. So I wrote about it.

If you have thoughts - business owners, fashion people, policy people, or people who think fashion is frivolous - I want to hear them. Let’s talk about how we’re all going to get through it.