A small Vermont business that sells water bottles used by cyclists and others is struggling to adapt to President Trump’s tariffs even after they were temporarily lowered.
When President Trump temporarily reduced tariffs this month on imports from China from the astronomical level that he had set in March, the stock market soared and economists said a recession was now less likely.
But the emergency is not over for small business owners like Carina Hamel and Robby Ringer who import products from China.
Ms. Hamel and Mr. Ringer’s company, Bivo, sells stainless steel water bottles with a patented nozzle that allows users — think, thirsty cyclists — to gulp drinks quickly. Before Mr. Trump’s tariffs threatened the company’s existence, the founders said, the nearly five-year-old business, run out of a former corset factory in Richmond, Vt., was growing fast and close to becoming profitable.
The drop in tariffs this month to 30 percent from 145 percent on most Chinese goods was a relief but in the way that a flood is better than a tsunami. “Six weeks ago, 30 percent would have shocked the world and been appalling and hard to deal with — and it is now,” Mr. Ringer said.
The duties on Bivo’s bottles are higher than 30 percent because of the material they’re made from and how they are classified by trade officials. Bivo bottles that are not insulated are subject to tariffs that add up to 47 percent, and the rate for insulated bottles is 37 percent.
Mr. Trump has frequently said that foreign businesses that ship products to the United States pay the tariffs. But, in reality, importers like Bivo pay the duties to the federal government when goods arrive at a U.S. port.