New tariffs raise local prices

So far President Trump’s trade war with China has only impacted big industries, but now smaller businesses could be feeling the effects.

A 15% tariff on $112 billion of Chinese goods went into effect Saturday at midnight.

The 15% tariffs cover goods like electronics and certain types of clothes and shoes.

“As the trade war escalates, there’s the risk of more pain being felt by Americans,” David French with the National Retail Federation, said.

French says the 15% tariffs will raise prices for consumers and hurt the economy.

“We’re talking about the potential of millions of lost jobs, less investment, slower GDP growth, unemployment, higher prices,” French said.

Customers could be seeing the impact on everything from groceries to watches to children’s toy.

“It’s going to cost us money in the long run,” Richard Brown, a local shopper said.

President Trump stands behind the tariffs, but some customers disagree with his decision.

“Probably we could work out something else as far as maybe taxing cars or maybe some I.T. or something like that. Or maybe we could invest more in our infrastructure,” Brown said.