When Rebecca Melsky and Eva St. Clair set out to create a children’s clothing brand more than a decade ago, they didn’t know it would become a crash course in the challenges of American manufacturing, and the uncertainty of President Trump’s trade policy.
But Princess Awesome, their company, is one of the small U.S. businesses straining under the weight of Mr. Trump’s tariffs, and a lead plaintiff in an epic legal fight to overturn them.
Like many in the Trump administration, the owners of Princess Awesome strongly support U.S. manufacturing, and spent years trying to make their products in America. But the clothing was more expensive to produce domestically and the quality was not as good as what could be made abroad.
In 2016, they moved production to China, only to be hit with 25 percent tariffs during Mr. Trump’s first term. They then shifted production to India, Bangladesh and Peru, where the president imposed sweeping tariffs in his second term.
Princess Awesome has already paid $24,000 in levies this year. The company has chosen not to cut staff or significantly raise prices so far, but the owners have sometimes leaned on their credit lines or sacrificed personally to cover the costs.
“It’s a lot of money for us,” Ms. St. Clair said. “It’s the difference between us getting paid in a particular month and not.”
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