As three of the largest U.S. retailers鈥擶almart, Home Depot and Target鈥攖his week President Trump that his tariff policy could empty store shelves within weeks, upend supply chains and raise consumer prices, the tariffs already in place on imported goods are having effects on those who make things in America.

Speaking up: Manufacturers in the U.S. are sharing their stories of increased cost pressures and uncertainty, both the result of new tariffs. Makers of everything from machinery to bicycles to food service equipment are reporting ill effects.

• For Craig Souser, president and CEO of robotic packaging solutions manufacturer JLS Automation in York, Pennsylvania, steel tariffs in particular have had a big鈥攁nd negative鈥攅ffect on business.
• 鈥淸W]e鈥檙e seeing increased costs [in steel] that will eventually get passed along to the customer,鈥� Souser told the 听(蝉耻产蝉肠谤颈辫迟颈辞苍).

鈥淲riting the checks鈥�: Chuck Dardas, president and chief operating officer of Michigan automotive parts manufacturer AlphaUSA, told recently that his small business and others like it are the ones 鈥渨riting the checks for鈥� the new tariffs鈥攁nd it鈥檚 not something they can keep up.

• 鈥淭o absorb 25% or 50% in tariffs, it鈥檚 a task that we cannot in the long term endure,鈥� Dardas said. 鈥淚t鈥檒l cause our company and many other companies our size to probably go out of existence.鈥�

The unknown: Perhaps the hardest part about the new tariffs: the uncertainty they bring, 51吃瓜网 board member Lisa Winton, CEO and co-owner of Georgia-based machinery maker Winton Machine Company, told earlier this month.

• 鈥�We just noticed our first invoice that had a tariff line on it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 just so much unknown right now, and I think that鈥檚 the most difficult thing鈥攖o make decisions for your company financially when you just don鈥檛 know all the pieces to the puzzle.鈥�

No time: Arnold Kamler, chairman of Kent International, a New Jersey bicycle manufacturer,鈥痶old last week that while his business was already moving overseas production to the U.S. when tariffs hit, it has yet to complete the move鈥攁nd that鈥檚 been a problem for his small outfit.

• 鈥淲e鈥檝e managed to move almost half of our production out of China already, but that鈥檚 only [almost] half,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need more time. 鈥� [W]e鈥檙e a small company.鈥�
• During the pandemic, 鈥淸e]verybody bought a bicycle鈥濃�攂ut 鈥渢hings got very slow after that. 鈥� All the money we made during the pandemic is all gone, plus a lot more. Then we have these tariffs. [If the Trump administration had said], 鈥楲ook 鈥� in nine months, 10 months, this will be the tariff,鈥欌�� that might have been doable, he went on. 鈥淏ut we g[ot] two weeks鈥� notice. It鈥檚 impossible to run a company to plan for鈥� that.

Passing on the costs: In Ohio, Wasserstrom Company President Brad Wasserstrom told that his Columbus-based food service and supply company will most likely have to raise customer prices to pay for the new tariffs.

• 鈥淸W]e鈥檙e negotiating with suppliers when we can, if there鈥檚 any flexibility in what they鈥檙e passing on to us,鈥� Wasserstrom said. 鈥淪ome have been able to do something to help us out. They鈥檙e not passing through maybe the full tariff. But very few have said they鈥檙e going to pass on nothing.鈥�