In the News

(DC News Now) — Small businesses across Northern Virginia say they’re being squeezed by soaring costs and renewed tariff pressures, prompting local leaders to seek immediate answers from Washington.

On Monday, owners gathered inside Scrawl Books to share their experiences with Congressman James Walkinshaw (VA-11, D) that the current climate is pushing some of them to the brink.

Paul Olsen, owner of Weird Brothers Coffee, said his business has been particularly hard-hit.

“The prices were already sky high, you know, because environmental factors and also a lot of other factors like transportation cost, shipping costs so on and so for now, the tariffs really kind of gave us the last little kick that push the prices over the edge and kept them very high for us,” explained Olsen.

The owner of Sarah Wells Bags, which sells equipment for nursing mothers, said that her business has been rattled. She said U.S. manufacturing options are too prices, so she uses vendors in Cambodia. U.S. officials have attempted to use tariffs to broker peace between Cambodia and Thailand, which has meant uncertainty for Sarah Wells Bags.

“I literally have a container on the water right now, and I don’t know if I’m going to be facing 100% tariff tomorrow,” she said.

Although a judge ruled President Donald Trump’s tariffs illegal, that decision is on hold, pending a ruling on an appeal.

Walkinshaw said that he aims to use the local entrepreneurs’ stories to build bipartisan consensus for legislation that would reverse certain tariffs and require congressional approval for future levies.

“We have some bipartisan support already to roll back President Trump’s tariffs. My hope is we can build on that bipartisan support and get more Republicans to join us Democrats in opposing policies that hurt small businesses and consumers,” Walkinshaw said.

The tariffs will remain in place until the Supreme Court issues a decision in the coming weeks.