By Carolyn Bick
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Across the United States, AAPI small business owners are feeling significant impacts from President Donald Trump’s tariffs—many of which the federal U.S. Court of Appeals have deemed illegal. And, if they continue, it’s only going to get worse.
At a news conference on Sept. 18, members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) addressed the steep tolls Trump’s tariffs—especially alongside immigration raids and research funding cuts—are taking on the AAPI community and the broader economy.
Rep. Judy Chu of California said that the day after Trump’s first tariffs hit, one of her constituents’ import costs “skyrocketed overnight, from $500 to $13,000, for one single shipment.”
“They may be forced to close their doors and lay off workers,” Chu said. She went on to describe how another small company in her district sells U.S.-made industrial tools abroad. “But because of Trump’s tariffs, tens of thousands of dollars in orders are stuck and customers are already turning to other countries. These are American-made products built by American workers, and yet Trump’s tariffs are driving business away.”
Cargo ship with containers and bold tariffs text
In a news release after the event, CAPAC listed what constitute just a few of the goods affected by Trump’s tariffs: “Basmati and jasmine rice, beef, shrimp, salmon, tuna, tilapia, dried fish, ginseng, Goji berries, Korean and Japanese cosmetics and skincare products, traditional Chinese medicine, matcha, loose-leaf tea, soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, Sichuan peppercorn, black pepper, cumin, turmeric, chili powder, paneer, kimchi, dry noodles, joss papers, incense, takeout containers, cell phones, computers, clothing, shoes, and more.”
One of Trump’s major promises was that tariffs would help the average American, and that tariffs would save Americans money and bring back jobs. But the opposite thing is happening, because tariffs are, in effect, a regressive tax that few small business owners and individual households—particularly low-income households—can afford to pay.
Just nine months into Trump’s second term, the cost of everything is rising, groceries, gas, and housing included, Chu said.
“It’s no surprise that as a result last month, we saw the worst job growth since the pandemic,” she continued, citing August’s staggeringly negative jobs report from the nonpartisan U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
But it’s unclear whether the U.S. will see another transparent jobs report—or one without possibly manipulated data. Shortly after the BLS released its August report, Trump fired the head of the agency. Trump has nominated one of Project 2025’s co-authors, EJ Antoni, to fill the post.
“So now, we don’t have reliable data we can trust, but we know what tariffs are doing to our economy here in the United States,” California’s Rep. Dave Min said.
Min also pointed out that the tariffs are taking jobs away from the U.S. and “destroying jobs” created here, as suggested in August’s jobs report.
For instance, Min said, a local electronics manufacturer told him that, the way the supply chain works, “they will import goods, say from Korea or China or Vietnam or Canada, then they will improve them, send them off to somewhere else, they get improved in another country, come back to the United States.”
This can happen three or four times with any one product, Min said, and because those items are now subject to such steep tariffs, which range anywhere from 20%–40%, this manufacturer may have to lay off workers and is considering moving the business to another country entirely.
At the same time, Trump’s aggressive, anti-immigrant campaign has attacked the U.S. economy and workforce stability from yet another angle. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids are increasingly common, and take people away en masse from where they are working essential jobs.
A high-profile example of this has also rocked relations between the U.S. and one of its closest allies, South Korea.
In a sting last week, ICE agents rounded up more than 300 South Koreans in Georgia, shackling them in wrist and ankle cuffs in what Hawai’i Rep. Jill Takuda called a “shameful” display, especially considering Trump’s unrealistic strongman demands regarding a South Korean trade deal with the U.S.
“Talk about the hypocrisy of demanding that South Korea invest in America, shake hands with its president, only to then target, detain, and again, dishonor their people,” Takuda said. “This is shameful, what they’re doing.”
And, she said, these kinds of tactics are nonsensical and counterintuitive, in the long run, if Trump really wants to improve the U.S. economy.
“When you think about it, our top trading partners and our top investors into the United States providing jobs, providing GDP (gross domestic product) directly are from Asia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, India,” Takuda said. She also noted that Trump has taken particular aim at international students and researchers.
Min called the roundup of Korean workers in Georgia “completely embarrassing” and described how many Korean communities are now “hyper-aware” of potential ICE raids.
“As someone in my community just remarked to me the other day, they’re not sure when they see one of these vans if it’s these gangs of burglars casing the neighborhood or whether it’s ICE, at this point,” he said. “That’s the point where we’ve gotten to in society.”
And, on the economic front, he said, this behavior is driving away both future economic boon created by international students and immediate tourism dollars.
“I represent the University of California, Irvine, and the number of foreign Ph.D. students has immediately dropped to something close to zero,” Min said. “These are the best and brightest minds who are doing cancer research, aviation, leading technology companies. … Over half of the unicorn companies—billion-dollar-plus startups in this country—were started by immigrants. We are losing that pipeline right now because of the ICE raids, coupled with the huge cuts to research funding.”
Min said he also met with the South Asian Hotel Owners Association on Sept. 17. One owner told him that, following the raids in Georgia, “overnight—that night—20% of their bookings were canceled when that news leaked out.”
“This is not about policy nuances,” Takuda said. “This is not even about trade policy or economic policy. … These are targeted racist actions, plain and simple, and it’s not acceptable. … There are over 3 million ANHPI businesses in this country. We employ over 5 million people. We contribute over a trillion dollars to America’s economy. And the way the president and this GOP-controlled Congress chooses to thank us for that is to attack the very way we are able to achieve the American Dream through tariffs and through racist actions.”
“This is just beyond offensive,” she continued. “Quite frankly, I think it’s criminal. It’s unconscionable.”
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