New reporting from NC Newsline is spotlighting how North Carolina small businesses are being forced to lay off staff and make difficult decisions in the face of rising costs, thanks to Michael Whatley’s tariffs.
As the trade war sends prices skyrocketing for North Carolinians, Whatley has called tariffs “record setting in terms of […] effectiveness” and said he supports them “wholeheartedly.”
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NC Newsline: Meet the NC business owners hoping the Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariffs
November 5, 2025
- Pittsboro entrepreneur Joshua Esnard thought he was living the American Dream. Then the tariffs hit.
- Esnard believed this would be the year that his small business would be profitable enough to move toward expansion.
- To keep his product in major retailers, he spent over $600,000 on tariffs this year when he had anticipated spending no more than $80,000.
- The Cut Buddy has cut consultants and reluctantly cut staff, hoping to avoid shifting the cost of tariffs to price-conscious consumers.
- Dodd is the owner of Red Scout Farm near Black Mountain, farming on land her family has owned for 125 years. Once she started talking to her suppliers, she realized just how many of the products that they use come from overseas.
- Profit margins are already razor thin, so every increase means tough choices.
- The small, diversified farm must decide whether to raise prices for customers or cut costs elsewhere, likely at the expense of better pay for its workers.
- To add insult to injury, as Western North Carolina residents rebuild from hurricane Helene, the tariffs have increased the raw cost of building materials, fixtures, and appliances.
- Colvin said his Asheville craft-soda business slowly built back from Helene in 2024, only to be confronted with an economic storm in 2025.
- This month he saw organic cane sugar, a key ingredient in his product, jump 10 cents a pound. Aluminum tariffs have increased costs by an additional 10% to 20%.
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