Why Trump’s tariff proposals have some business owners worried

Los Angeles — Bobby Djavaheri is trying to stock up his warehouse with appliances from overseas, while he can still afford it.

“We’ve been preparing for the last six months — both our factories and us as importers — for Trump to win,” Djavaheri told CBS News.

Djavaheri is president of Los Angeles-based Yedi Houseware Appliances, which manufactures its products in China. He says President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to increase tariffs will force him to charge more.

His company’s Yedi Evolution air fryer is currently priced at $130, Djavaheri said. He estimates that Trump’s proposed tariffs would raise that price to about $200. Yedi’s two-quart air fryer currently costs between $30 and $40. Trump’s tariffs could raise that to almost $100.

Trump campaigned on implementing a blanket tariff of 10% to 20% on all imports, along with an additional 60% or more on goods from China.

“It would decimate our business, but not only our business,” Djavaheri said. “It would decimate all small businesses that rely on importing.”

Djavaheri says it is not Chinese companies that pay the tariffs, it is his own business.

“We’re getting the bill, the bill comes straight to us from the government,” Djavaheri said.

Brian Peck, adjunct assistant professor of international trade law at USC, says Trump’s tariffs could also be a negotiating tactic.

“If he doesn’t like a certain practice or policy initiative, he can use it as leverage to threaten them,” Peck said. “…It’s important for the American people to understand that the people who pay tariffs are U.S. importers. Not China, not foreign governments, not foreign companies. That’s going to come down to your wallet.”

An August study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics indicated that Trump’s proposed tariffs could cost middle-income households more than $2,600 a year.

In 2018, when Trump slapped tariffs on imported washing machines, prices jumped almost $100. But foreign appliance makers also moved some production to the U.S., and a year later they had created 1,800 new jobs.

Other countries, however, retaliated with tariffs on U.S. exports, which led to job losses.

According to Djavaheri, most of Yedi’s products cannot at the moment be manufactured in the U.S.

“There’s no factory in America,” Djavaheri said. “A factory that could potentially produce hundreds of thousands of air fryers in one year, same quality, there’s no where in the world other than the Chinese.”

Djavaheri’s advice? If you’re considering a purchase, make it before the potential tariffs kick in.