Every waiter knows the type: the volatile diner who barges in with a list of demands, orders an off-the-menu item that sends the kitchen into a panic and then at the last minute changes his mind and decides he’ll just have the steak.
So if anybody knows how to handle President Trump’s stunning reversal on tariffs, it’s people in the restaurant business. Still, it’s safe to say that they’ve had a rough week.
Chefs who had been furiously calling their suppliers, stockpiling imported ingredients ahead of what seemed certain to be drastic price jumps, got a temporary reprieve on Wednesday. Hours after they’d gone into effect, Mr. Trump put on hold a patchwork of tariffs that targeted 57 countries with rates ranging from 11 to 51 percent. For three months, he declared, all imports would be hit with a flat 10 percent tariff except products from China, which face tariffs that have vaulted to 145 percent. Nobody knows what will happen after the three months are up.
If you are a restaurateur, none of this makes it easier to sleep at night, or to decide how much to charge for dan-dan noodles.
The National Restaurant Association has brought in supply-chain experts to advise restaurateurs on handling disruptions in the flow of imported seafood and vegetables. Owners who drew up their business plans in the era of free trade are asking whether they still make sense when governments around the world are using shrimp and wine as chips in a high-stakes poker game.