Rhode Island's small business community is grappling with the cascading effects of the Trump administration's broad tariff regime, with owners across multiple industries reporting significant cost increases that are proving difficult to pass on to customers in a price-sensitive market.
The Rhode Island Small Business Development Center surveyed 340 small businesses in March and found that 67 percent reported higher costs directly attributable to tariffs, with an average cost increase of 14 percent across affected product categories. The hardest-hit sectors include jewelry manufacturing, which relies heavily on imported precious metals and components from Asia; food service, which has seen ingredient costs rise sharply; and construction, where steel and aluminum tariffs have increased material costs by an estimated 18 to 22 percent.
"I'm absorbing about $4,000 a month in additional costs that I can't fully pass on to my customers," said Paul Andreozzi, who owns a specialty food importing business in Providence. "My customers are already stretched thin. If I raise prices too much, they go somewhere else."
The tariff situation has produced a genuine debate among Rhode Island conservatives. Some, aligned with the administration's position, argue that the short-term pain is necessary to rebuild domestic manufacturing capacity and reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains. Others argue that the tariffs are functioning as a tax on American businesses and consumers without producing the promised reshoring of production.
"I support the president's goal of bringing manufacturing back to America," said NFIB Rhode Island Director Christopher Carlozzi. "But the implementation has been chaotic, and small businesses are bearing costs that large corporations can absorb much more easily. We need a more targeted approach."
The Rhode Island Manufacturers Association has called on the administration to establish a more robust exemption process for businesses that can demonstrate they have no domestic alternative for imported inputs.