Reprint: Say Something Real
By Michelle Bryant
We’ve all heard the saying when America catches a cold, Black folks get pneumonia. It is with that understanding that many are fearful that the economic fallout from the Trump administration’s tariffs, could prove fatal to small Black-owned businesses. We need to look no further than to the impact of COVID-19, to understand how quickly our companies can flatline.
Across all U.S. racial and ethnic groups, we lost 41% of Black-owned businesses, according to an article written in Bloomberg. Roughly, 440,000 black companies, were gone in the blink of an eye. Like the 2008 housing crisis, it takes us longer to rebound from destabilized markets. Most often, we don’t come back at all. Couple that with entrenched and systemic barriers in lending, investments, and support, and these tariffs will lead to shuttered doors. If you’re like me, you are asking, and what is it for?
These tariffs, initially justified as a means to address trade imbalances between the U.S. and global partners, have been used to serve a variety of policy goals, including immigration, fentanyl trafficking, and nationalism. Trump’s so-called Liberation Day threatens to return Black entrepreneurs to an employer’s figurative plantation.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 1% of small businesses export goods, but they represent a significant portion of U.S. imports. Tariffs levied by other countries in retaliation to U.S. policies have made it harder for these businesses to remain competitive in global markets. The big hit comes with imports.
Many small companies rely on goods for raw materials, components, or finished products that are brought into the U.S. from around the world. Manufacturing and retail, industries in which Black people are over-represented, are directly in the crosshairs of tariffs. Despite claims that foreign producers will bear the brunt of these costs, the reality is that American businesses and, Black-owned companies are going to be in freefall if deals are not struck soon. So, what can they do to hold on?
Survival strategies can include rethinking your supply chain or where you get your inventory. Reviewing the ability to be nimble and adjust the way you operate can also help. Some churches still think we are doing COVID services and online church is here to stay! You are encouraged to adapt and look for cost-sharing opportunities to improve your purchasing power. A competitor could become an ally and reconnecting with networks within your industry could help to form strategic alliances, because help may not be found in familiar places.
Recently, the Trump administration issued an Executive Order terminating the funding for The Minority Business Development Agency, among 7 other agencies included in the order. While a federal judge blocked those efforts, understaffing those agencies has served as de facto agency closings. Challenges to these crippling policy changes are occurring, but Black businesses must look for ways to save themselves. Madam C.J. Walker once said “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” My mother took it a step further, saying “Superman is not coming to save us, but we can show up for one another.” Community, if you’re listening…Get Up and Show Up for Black-owned Businesses! Up for Black-owned Businesses!
