A San Luis Obispo business owner is speaking out against tariffs imposed during the Trump administration. This comes as Senate Democrats push a bill that would exempt small businesses.
Cal Poly alumna Haley Pavone runs Pashion Footwear, a SLO-based company that sells customizable women’s shoes with removable heels. According to Pavone, her business took a financial hit when the Trump administration raised tariffs on Chinese imports– with her imports taxed as high as 190%.
Pavone told the U.S. House Committee on Small Business this month that her company depends on large-scale manufacturing only available in China, and the costs are stacking up.
Pavone said she was recently billed $40,000 for just two weeks of imports in April.
“What’s really unfortunate is when you do the math, that $80,000 monthly would be the equivalent of me hiring 12 new full-time employees at $80,000 salaries,” Pavone said. “What’s a better use of that money– paying taxes or creating jobs? Unfortunately, right now it will be used to pay taxes.”
Pavone added that even small businesses that make products in the U.S. often have to import some materials or packaging from China, since it's the world's main supply source.
She’s calling on lawmakers to either repeal the tariffs or at least exempt small-to-mid-sized businesses.
“The large corporations doing imports will have a greater impact on this situation, whereas small businesses really just stand to get gutted and become insolvent the longer that this situation presses on,” Pavone said.
Earlier this month, Senate Democrats proposed the Small Business Liberation Act, which would exempt qualifying businesses from paying the import taxes.
