Los Angeles — Business owner Bobby Djavaheri has imported items stockpiled inside his Los Angeles warehouse in anticipation of sky-high tariffs he fears could ultimately destroy his livelihood.
“I’m finding myself in a position where I feel like my government’s not supporting me and supporting my cause,” Djavaheri told CBS News. “And it’s a very weird, strange feeling.”
Djavaheri’s company, Yedi Houseware Appliances, sells small kitchen appliances, such as air fryers and rice cookers, made entirely in China.
When his new shipments began arriving two weeks ago, he was hit with President Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese goods. The duty tax bills he received from U.S. Customs ranged from $9,000 to $21,000.
Prior to the tariff hike, Djavaheri said he would have paid “a couple hundred dollars” on a shipment.
“People need to understand that when you have a very low-margin business, it makes it almost impossible to do business,” Djavaheri said.
But now, just two weeks later — with the tariff on Chinese imports reduced to 30% for at least 90 days following a truce Monday between the United States and China — Djavaheri said he has had to pivot again.
He said the 30% tariff is still “not cheap,” especially on higher-priced goods.
“We’ve increased prices on everything,” Djavaheri said.
He’s now rushing to order products for the holiday shopping season.
“Shipping prices have already tripled,” Djavaheri added.
The situation leaves many U.S. businesses facing a dilemma: They can either pay more to ship at the current 30% tariff rate on China, or wait in the hope that the Trump administration will lower the tariffs further.
“The duties are a huge outlay of cash that these businesses are facing,” Ryan Petersen, CEO of Flexport, a logistics company that helps businesses move goods, told CBS News. “And a lot of them are in a position where they don’t want to just pay that right away. They’d rather leave the goods here until the last minute when they need them.”
Flexport is now seeing high demand for both foreign trade zone facilities and bonded warehouses that are located near ports and airports. These facilities allow companies to store their cargo and temporarily avoid tariffs.
“Both types of facilities allow you to defer payment of the duties until the goods leave the building,” Petersen said.
Djavaheri said he’ll never get back the money he paid out on the 145% tariff rate. And he believes the financial whiplash means he cannot count on making a profit this year. Instead, he will just try to stay afloat.
“This is a war that we are in the middle of,” he said.
Carter Evans has served as a Los Angeles-based correspondent for CBS News since February 2013, reporting across all of the network’s platforms. He joined CBS News with nearly 20 years of journalism experience, covering major national and international stories.
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