As of Thursday, April 10, most of President Trump’s steepest tariffs are on hold. Hours after they went into effect the day before, the President announced a 90-day pause. He is keeping a recently implemented 10% tariff on dozens of countries impacting most global imports to the U.S, and the President is hiking the tax rate on imports from China to at least 145%. The Trump tariff turbulence is not resolved. Once the pause was announced, stocks surged Wednesday after days of market meltdowns. Then they slid again Thursday morning. We can watch how Wall Street reacts in real time to the on-again off-again tariffs. When it comes to Main Street, the uncertainty is impacting Central Florida businesses in ways you may not realize. Central Florida Public Media visited two on Tuesday hours before the big tariff hikes were to go into effect.
Meet Haidar Ahmad
Haidar Ahmad owns Cedar Halal Food and Grill in Orlando. He takes pride in offering quality Middle Eastern fare at affordable prices, and that’s how he’s been able to maintain a steady and loyal customer base for more than twenty years. Except for the fresh meat and produce in his grill, Ahmad says most of his stock is imported, and all of it is subject to tariffs. He orders inventory from different wholesale companies every week looking for the best prices to shield his customers from the rising costs.
“The price already every week is going up and up,” he says.
Raising prices is the last thing Ahmad wants to do, but he says he has about a month left until he may be forced to adjust his menu rates.
A different take on tariffs
One business that isn’t so worried about the tariffs is Hyrule Kingdom Video Games, an independent game shop. Jose Rivera is the owner. Even though nearly all gaming consoles and games are manufactured in China, Mexico or Vietnam, Rivera does not think that tariffs will deter people from buying games. Rivera has seen video games serve as a social comforter before, and he’s familiar with how the video game industry reacts to shifts in the global markets.
“Pandemic kicked in, games shot up, everybody staying home, so if anything, I would expect the exact same issue to occur now where people are just going to buy games and stay home because everything is too expensive,” he says.
The retail video game industry relies on the sales of new inventory and the exchange of used games and equipment. Rivera expects a flood of used games will be sold if tariffs rise. He opened his Orlando store a year ago this week, he has another game store in Port Orange that’s been running for twenty years, and he is on track to open a third in the Miami area.
Tariffs and retirement accounts
With the tariff turbulence and the impact on the financial markets, many people spent the week glued to 401K dashboards and investment apps. Central Florida Public Media spoke to Scott Perrone, a certified financial planner in Orlando about retirement preparation. Perrone says financial diversification is key. He has faith in the market’s long-term performance and emphasizes investing with the head, not the heart.
“I do think it is very important to remove your emotions from investing. I think it is also equally important to understand that the market doesn’t go up in a straight line, we always have these peaks and troughs along the way,” he says.
