American small businesses saw mixed results under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Coming out of COVID, when people moved and work remotely, there was a surge of business applications. But in 2024, firms employing fewer than 10 workers actually lost jobs, knocked by high credit rates. Simultaneously, high inflation drove up the cost of doing business.
Conventional wisdom was Trump, a businessman, spoke the language of commerce. But the first months of his second term have been rocky.
On April’s so-called “Liberation Day,” Trump announced high tariffs on countries across the globe. Many Minnesota small businesses panicked and abandoned paid-for merchandise in Chinese factories. Others planned to leave months worth of new cargo shipments at U.S. ports, saying they could not afford the abrupt tariff hikes on their Chinese imports.
One Minnesota small business owner, Zumbrota-based Busy Baby‘s Beth Benike, gained national attention for how import tariffs on Chinese goods exploded the cost of her baby mat products. This week, Benike said she can’t trust tariffs will stay at 30% following the recent 90-day pause.
“The administration has been making drastic changes to policies pretty frequently,” Benike said.
