Yves here. This article provides some vignettes about the way Trump tariffs, both the (probable) fact of their imposition and the whipsawing over them is wreaking havoc with successful small businesses. These modest-scale enterprises are the engine of job growth. Some of the ones profiled here are also manufacturers, even if not the metal-bending or techish sort. So America is going to have to dig itself out of not just the offshoring/outsourcing hole, but also Trump-inflicted tariff wounds? How is that supposed to work, exactly?

I am perhaps more sentimental about these case studies than I ought to be, because it reminds me of the gritty and vibrant city I moved to when young. There were a lot more small retailers, many of whom sold their own wares, from specialty food stores to niche clothes designers and even hat makers to importers of European casual china to lighting specialists. And

Keep reading this article on Naked Capitalism (Yves Smith) - Blog.