AUSTIN (KXAN) — Having fun in the sun this year may put more strain on the wallet, thanks to tariffs.
A recent analysis from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce broke down the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs on summer essentials. Items like grills, fishing gear, coolers, sunscreen and many more are expected to cost significantly more this year if those tariffs stick.
According to the analysis, which was published at the end of May, the tariffs that had been imposed up to that point in time were anticipated to cost the typical American household about $4,000.
Neil Bradley, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said those impacts will hit everything from summer essentials to back-to-school supplies.
“It’s really hard to escape the tariff impact,” Bradley said. “And what we’re beginning to see today is that businesses right now are now paying those increased tariffs when they’re buying and importing goods, and that means that we’re not very far away from us, the consumer, feeling that price increase when we’re in the store.”
The analysis listed the specifics of how much more consumers can expect to pay for certain items:
- Grills and grill utensils: +30% Tariff Tax (Also, many grill parts are subject to an additional 25% tariff dating back to 2018.)
- Swimming pools and wading pools: +35% Tariff Tax
- Fishing reels, rods, and hooks: +30% Tariff Tax
- Bicycles: +66% Tariff Tax
- Baseball and softball gloves: +30% Tariff Tax
- Sunscreen: +34% Tariff Tax
- Tennis and badminton rackets: +35% Tariff Tax
- Swimwear: + 57.8% Tariff Tax (27.8% + 30%)
- Beach Toys: +37.5% Tariff Tax
- Coolers: +55% Tariff Tax
- Tents and camping equipment: +37.5% Tariff Tax
- Garden hose: +37.5% Tariff Tax
- Sandals: +67.5% Tariff Tax
- Umbrellas: +37.5% Tariff Tax
- Beach Towels: +39% Tariff Tax
- Kites: +37.5% Tariff Tax
- Raincoats/ponchos: +55% Tariff Tax
- Fireworks: +35% Tariff Tax
- Sunglasses: +40% Tariff Tax
- Air conditioners: +55% Tariff Tax
- Cooling fans: +34.7% Tariff Tax (4.7% + 30%)
Bradley said the impacts aren’t just on the consumer end, but that small businesses are heavily impacted by tariffs as well.
“Ninety-seven percent of all businesses that import are actually small businesses,” Bradley said. “So there’s about 36,000 businesses in Texas who bring in goods from other countries. And you know, 90 plus percent of those are small businesses.”
“So what happens to that small business?” Bradley continued. “All of a sudden, you have a 25% tariff, let’s say on a good that used to have a 2.5% tariff. Your tariff bill goes from, you know, a couple thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. If you’re a small business, you don’t have a lot of cash lying around to pay that tax bill to Uncle Sam. You have to figure out — can you pass that cost along to your consumers? And if you can’t, the very survivability of your business comes into question.”
Bradley said the Trump administration wants to negotiate new trade deals that will ultimately lower tariffs, but negotiations take a while.
“The one thing that small businesses don’t have is time. So what we suggested to the Trump administration is modify the tariffs. No tariffs for small business,” Bradley said. “The Trump administration could do that with a stroke of a pen. We’re encouraging them to do it, and we hope that they will in short order.”