Oregon businesses are feeling the effects of President Trump’s tariffs, as companies reliant on global trade brace for even higher import tax rates as soon as Thursday.
Trade helps drive Oregon’s economy. Last year, companies operating in the state imported more than $28 billion worth of parts and finished products, and exported over $34 billion to global markets.
Since widespread tariffs hit earlier this year, Oregon businesses from a range of industries have been warning Pacific Northwest leaders that the import taxes are raising the cost of doing business. Some companies are already passing along some of those higher costs on to customers, while others are holding off on hiring or starting new projects.
“You can’t plan to grow your business,” Emily Smith, Portland-based sales representative for Hacea Coffee Source, said. “You can’t plan any kind of expansion, you can’t plan any kind of investment, because you need to have every single dollar possible — liquid — so that you can pay these unexpected tariffs.”
Economists often look at job numbers and other indicators to analyze the health of the state economy. That data tends to lag a few months, making it hard to assess how tariffs are affecting Oregon’s economy in real time.
Because of that, Damon Runberg with Business Oregon said the state agency recently surveyed more than 250 companies about tariffs. Most respondents said tariffs are raising the cost of needed products.
“It’s not a valid sample,” Runberg said, pointing out that there are more than 1 million licensed businesses in the state. “So we want to caution people from being like, ‘this is gospel truth.’ But it does give us some general insights into what that mindset has been this spring and early summer.”
Runberg said a small number of companies surveyed expect tariffs to have a positive impact, creating more domestic demand. Service businesses like hotels may see little to no effect.
Meanwhile, equipment manufacturers and companies involved in making computer chips may delay big investments in anticipation of higher import taxes.
“A lot of businesses are sort of saying ‘we’re gonna sit back, not do a whole lot, we’re not gonna hire a bunch of people, we’re not gonna lay a whole bunch of people off,’ because there’s so much uncertainty right now that making business decisions around that uncertainty is really difficult,” Runberg said.
Coffee is particularly vulnerable to tariffs since there is little domestic supply — the bean only grows in tropical climates. Smith says companies like Hacea work directly with farmers in coffee-producing countries, such as Brazil and Ecuador, and then sell those beans to roasters.
Imported coffee has been hit with at least a 10% tariff rate, the baseline for any good from a foreign country. The Trump administration is planning to hike up those rates on certain countries — including Brazil and Ecuador — on Thursday, barring any last-minute deals.
However, Trump has repeatedly changed deadlines at the last minute.
“There’s absolutely no way to prepare for any of this,” Smith said.
So far, Hacea has passed on some of the tariff cost to its customers, she said. But if higher tariffs go into effect this week, the coffee company will need more money available right away to pay the federal government. Right now, a shipment of coffee can cost Hacea tens of thousands of dollars in tariff fees.
“We’ve had to go and borrow money to pay the tariffs and there’s finance charges that go with that,” Smith said. “So we’re eating the finance charges, which has reduced our margin a good chunk.”
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
