Cambridge Businesses Brace for Supplier Price Increases From Tariffs

As businesses across the country struggle to keep up with the changing tariff policies out of the Trump administration, many Cambridge store owners are anticipating supplier price hikes.

In interviews with more than 15 local business owners, The Crimson found that various businesses have been contacted by suppliers to inform them of potential increases in prices. While many have said they have yet to feel the effects, owners are waiting to take further action until the situation becomes clearer.

Fulfilling a key campaign promise, Trump has imposed a 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports, high, individualized tariffs on other countries with which the United States has a large trade deficit, and a 10 percent baseline tariff on all other countries. The administration had previously imposed sweeping retaliatory tariffs on various countries, but implemented a 90-day pause last Wednesday.

Jeff C. O’Connell — a salesperson for Cambridge Bicycle — said that the business’ suppliers emailed them about the potential impacts from the tariffs. The tariffs could lead to a potential price hike for a lot of its bikes, potentially increasing the cost of some bikes by up to 80 percent.

“We’re getting emails from suppliers talking about what the potential impacts are, but it’s just completely unknown, because the tariffs are on, the tariffs are off,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell said that the store is in a precarious situation, as it imports a lot of its inventory from Taiwan and China.

“It’s like, China does reciprocal tariffs, and it’s just total chaos,” he added.

Nicholas C. Davies, general manager for Boston-based food truck and catering company Moyzilla, said the tariffs have yet to directly impact his businesses’ prices. But he added that the company is preparing for possible changes to business costs.

“Some of the paper products that we use, some of the packaging products that we use, do come from China,” he said. “So those tariffs, once they start getting enforced, once they really start coming into full swing — I’m 100 percent certain that that will affect how we have to cost out our products.”

But Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, a staple in Harvard Square, has already felt the effects of the tariffs.

“An order was just placed today, and we’ve noticed a sharp increase in certain products that are just a lot more expensive than what they were when we ordered them last week,” General Manager Michael D. Chapman said.

“We cannot directly say if that is because of the tariffs or not,” he added. “However, we can somewhat deduce, I would think, that whether the cost of those things has actually increased, or that’s just our suppliers are just anticipating those increases in prices.”

Chapman also noted how the uncertainty surrounding the tariff policies has made them more cautious in hiring.

“I think that at this point, we would have already maybe brought on a little bit more staff to anticipate our increasingly busy season,” Chapman said.

“I think, like many other businesses, from the owner to me as the general manager, we are kind of uncertain at this point, so we’re just being a little bit cautious. Again, we are not freaking out,” he added.

Ronaldo Barbieri, the general manager for El Jefe’s Taqueria in Harvard Square, said his location has not been impacted by the tariffs.

“The suppliers have been doing great. They are handling great. Usually when they’re gonna do a huge price change, they let us know in advance,” Barbieri said.

“I don’t think the tariffs are a major thing yet for us,” he added.

Amid the uncertainty for businesses, Adrian M. Wall ‘03, a partner of Joe’s Pizza, said he was concerned about how the tariffs will affect their customers.

“I think where we’re more concerned is how our customers are gonna feel,” Wall said. “The uncertainty, the economic uncertainty people are feeling, the political uncertainty, and how that’s gonna affect their spending habits.”

“It’s a wait and see for now. We’re not going to make any drastic changes. Joe’s doesn’t take price-changing lightly,” he added.

— Staff Writers Jaya N. Karamcheti and Summer E. Rose contributed reporting.

—Staff writer Kevin Zhong can be reached at kevin.zhong@thecrimson.com.