Local grocery store owner John Wong expressed surprise this week upon learning that the import tariffs he enthusiastically supported would, in fact, apply to his own imported goods, potentially forcing his 42-year-old Asian market to close by year's end.
Wong, who cast his ballot for Donald Trump based on campaign promises to lower grocery costs, now faces wholesale price increases of up to 35% across his entire inventory as Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports hover around 30%. Over half of Wong Kai Imports' products come from China, with additional inventory from Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines—countries all facing steep levies under the administration's trade policies.
"I voted for him because he said he'd bring costs down," Wong told reporters while gesturing at a bottle of mapo tofu sauce that has nearly doubled in price from $2.75 to $5 in less than a year. "I mean, what are you going to do?"
Economic experts noted that Wong appeared genuinely baffled by the revelation that tariffs—which Trump repeatedly explained would be imposed on imported goods—would be imposed on imported goods.
"Nearly all mainstream economists warned that consumers are the primary victims of tariffs," said Michael Snipes, an economics professor at the University of South Florida, addressing Wong's confusion about how a tax on imports could affect someone who imports things. "They told us this would happen. Repeatedly. In very small words."
When asked whether he considered that his business model of importing Asian groceries might conflict with policies designed to discourage importing Asian groceries, Wong said he hopes to make it past this year but remains uncertain. He added that large retailers like Walmart and Target are also raising prices, though unlike Wong's family-run operation, they possess the financial cushion to absorb costs without immediately going under.
Wong, who immigrated from Hong Kong decades ago, lamented that his American Dream no longer seems to have a future. Economists politely suggested that voting for explicitly anti-import policies while running an import business may have been a contributing factor.
