Her Business Was Thriving. Then Came the Tariffs.

When President Trump raised tariffs against China to an astonishing 145 percent last week, he radically changed the cost of doing business for thousands of American companies.

Michael Barbaro speaks to Beth Benike, a small-business owner who fears her business will not survive the tariffs.

Guest: Beth Benike, the founder and C.E.O. of Busy Baby

Background reading: 

• Small-business owners say tariffs will squeeze them, and their customers (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/us/trump-tariffs-china-consumer-costs.html) .
• Trump’s tariffs leave no safe harbor for American importers (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/business/trumps-tariffs-us-imports.html) .

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily (http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily) . Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times

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