A coalition of 38 small business founders, including Allison Luvera of Juliet Wine, has sent a letter to Congress seeking relief from the challenges posed by the Trump administration’s trade policies. These small business leaders, who collectively generate $800 million annually and employ thousands, are advocating for affordable supply chain alternatives and a reconsideration of recent tariff increases.
Allison Luvera is the founder of Juliet Wine, which sells fancy boxed wine by mail order. She’s experienced the financial impact caused at the hands of these heightened tariffs. Instead, she is slammed with a staggering annual bill of $200,000. This extremely high expense is due to the need to source this vital packaging ingredient from abroad, since there are no domestic sources.
As she explained in her letter to Congress, trade attorney Luvera underscored how burdensome it’s become for small businesses to navigate today’s confusing and combative trade environment.
“Unlike large corporations, small businesses lack the leverage to renegotiate supply chain contracts, the margins to absorb steep cost increases, or the capital required to rapidly reconfigure global supply chains,” – Allison Luvera.
The Female Founder Collective has been at the forefront of this lobbying effort. That lineup includes trailblazers like digital fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff and Alison Wyatt. The group aims to raise awareness of how these tariffs are impacting small businesses and their ability to compete in the marketplace. In response to calls for relief, the statement’s founders invite Congress to act to reduce the financial burden created by raising tariffs and reimpose such burdens.
The Trump administration recently announced a 90-day pause on tariff increases for various countries. This has not alleviated the overall concerns. As an example, as a result of this short-lived pause, the cumulative tariff rate for China was increased back up to an outrageous 145%. This change has only increased the burden on small businesses who depend on international suppliers.
The collective of makers works hard to source materials from local, national, and international manufacturers. This programmatic approach underscores just how interconnected and complex a modern supply chain is. They’re calling on Congress to prevent any future tariff hikes. Their goal is to provide affordable and accessible supply chain solutions in a meaningful way for small businesses.
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