Chinatown businesses from coast to coast sound alarm over Trump’s China tariff

President Donald Trump’s tariff on Chinese imports continues to impact small businesses in Chinatowns across major cities, threatening their survival and the cultural fabric of communities that have persevered for generations.

Catch up: Trump has slapped sweeping tariffs on all Chinese imports since “Liberation Day” on April 2, with the latest levy at 145%. The effects have been palpable: in New York City’s Chinatown, a 40-pound bag of rice that once cost $25 now sells for over $60, while restaurants in San Francisco’s Chinatown report supply cost increases of up to 20%.

For its part, Beijing responded with 125% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, escalating tensions before this weekend’s talks between U.S. and Chinese economic officials in Switzerland. Just two weeks after saying his China tariff would “come down substantially,” Trump rejected the idea on Wednesday, telling reporters “no.”

Higher costs, fewer customers: Cory Ng, who owns Phoenix Palace in New York City, explained the Chinese tariff’s impact to CBS News: “The rice, the soy sauce, our entire menu is built off that! We’re not importing fresh ingredients like vegetables, but everything else around it — spices, seasonings, even our beers. Now it’s double.”

In Austin’s Chinatown, shoppers report both panic buying and “putting things back.” “We’ve seen a significant surge of Asian companies keen to invest here due to the tariffs, and we’ve also heard from small local companies planning to shut down,” Mark Duval, president of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce, told KXAN.

In San Francisco, Lucas Li, whose family runs spirituality supply store Lion Trading, told KALW that they paused all imports “because we wouldn’t know how to make those profits come back.” Meanwhile, San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce President Donald Luu said restaurants are seeing about 20% less customers while merchants face 30% less sales since the tariff was enacted.