at least 145 per cent.  While Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief, with the markets, for the time being, rallying, investors are not entirely reassured about the economy’s future.  As Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, stated, “Trump illustrated to everyone in the market today how incredibly difficult it is to trade around his tariff regime because he and only he knows when it ends.” While larger corporations may be better equipped to ride out the ebbs and flows of the market in the next 90 days, smaller businesses are likely to struggle with these tariff-related shifts.  Inside Retail connected with five US-based independent brand founders to learn more about how the tariffs have impacted their business decisions.  Nguyen Coffee Supply Sahra Nguyen, the founder and chief executive officer of Nguyen Coffee Supply, noted that the majority of her products, like coffee beans and phins, a Vietnamese-style coffee filter, are imported from Vietnam, with other goods, like coffee bags, merchandise and glassware, sourced from China.  The founder added that the brand’s finished goods, such as the bags of coffee beans it sells through Whole Foods, are produced in the US.  Nguyen noted that she did not have any specific plans in place to adjust business operations ahead of President Trump’s pausing of the tariffs.  “During this week, I felt that it was too soon to make a decision because we were not posed with the actual threat of the tariff just yet, i.e. no shipments,” she explained. “I was waiting to see if any updates would arise with the National Coffee Association lobbying, Vietnam’s government offering zero tariffs and ongoing discussions with all the stakeholders. It was a period of staying informed, being present and focusing on our controllables.” However, Nguyen did run through the estimates of what the 46 per cent tariff placed on Vietnamese-imported goods would mean for the business and concluded that it would increase overall costs by approximately 25 per cent. “For our products coming from China, we won’t be able to sustain our margins with the 125 per cent tariffs, and since there are other options for products like apparel, glassware and coffee bags, we will look for alternative sources. For our products coming from Vietnam facing the 10 per cent tariff, we’ll be able to absorb this for the time being,” she said. “Our goal is to reduce costs in other areas to offset this 10 per cent tariff so that we won’t have to raise prices.” Viv for your V Katie Diasti, the CEO and founder of sustainable period care brand Viv for your V, stated that moving production to the US simply isn’t viable for many of the brand’s products. Diasti explained that “there aren’t domestic manufacturers capable of producing our specific sustainable period care items with our required specifications. We source globally for critical materials, like our medical-grade silicone and bamboo, to create products that aren’t filled with the typical plastics found in many period care products today.” The period care brand founder elaborated that “the strength of our five-year supplier relationships gives us an advantage during these uncertain trade conditions, we can have candid conversations about adapting together.” “While tariffs certainly present challenges, this is not breaking [into] our top five business challenges we’ve experienced to date,” Diasti remarked.  “We’re committed to keeping our products affordable rather than immediately passing costs to consumers. As tariffs start to impact the price of goods, we’re exploring creative alternatives to maintain margins while preserving our price points, ensuring customers continue to have access to eco-friendly, non-toxic options.”  Additionally, Diastic observed that as a smaller brand, Viv for your V can be more nimble and flexible in its response to market shifts in comparison to larger retail players.  Vontélle Eyewear Nancey Flowers-Harris, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Vontélle Eyewear, stated that tariffs have had a very real and growing impact on the company’s operations and decision-making.  “As a small but scaling brand, the majority of our manufacturing, particularly for our eyewear products, has historically been done in China. However, the ongoing and proposed tariff increases have forced us to re-evaluate our supply chain strategy,” Flowers-Harris explained.  Prior to the global tariffs announced on April 2, Vontélle Eyewear had already begun establishing relationships with manufacturers in other countries as part of a long-term plan to diversify our production sources.  This early groundwork has “proven incredibly valuable”, remarked Flowers-Harris, noting that she and her co-founder Tracy Vontélle Green are now actively exploring partnerships in Japan, Greece and Italy for eyewear production, and in India and other countries for packaging. “Looking ahead to the next one to two years, we anticipate tariffs will continue to shape our vendor selection, pricing strategies, and even the pace at which we introduce new products,” Flowers-Harris said. “It’s added a layer of complexity that many emerging brands are navigating, but it’s also pushing us to be more creative, agile, and globally connected in how we do business.” Lavāda Anita Thomas, the founder of sustainable handbag brand Lavāda, expressed that the tariffs are forcing the brand to pull back from overseas manufacturing options as it doesn’t have the margins to absorb the increased costs that bigger brands have. “Just a few weeks ago, we ran samples with manufacturers in two different overseas locations, but now everything we talked about has blown up. It would be great to say we’ll just find comparable factories in the US, but only a few US apparel manufacturers are remaining that can produce bags and they can’t do it at scale, not to mention the higher labor costs,” she said. While tariffs, for the time being, seem to be leveling out, the reality is that Lavāda’s customers are going to be pressed on price in whatever direction the economy goes moving forward. Realistically speaking, Thomas observed, price hikes of 30 to 40 per cent are not sustainable for emerging brands like her own.  “Moving forward, we’re looking into alternative strategies, including doing some small runs in-house, custom orders and even simplifying some product designs to make them more feasible,” the founder stated. Thomas added that even without the manufacturing component, tariffs will make the cost of goods and shipping on Lavāda’s materials more expensive.  “As a sustainable brand, we try to minimise our environmental impact, so it’s also forcing us to re-evaluate our supply chain and how we source things. Initially, this may slow us down even more, but we’re taking the time to curate and exhaust new options,” Thomas finished.   BYC Home Décor & Candles Shemeka Wright, the founder of BYC Home Décor & Candles, disclosed that when news of the tariffs started circulating, many of her candle suppliers raised their prices in anticipation, which created an immediate budget strain.  “As a small business, I didn’t have the cushion to absorb those unexpected costs, especially with packaging and raw materials,” said Wright. “I did consider seeking alternative packaging manufacturers but the global uncertainty made it clear that pivoting quickly was the smarter move.” Wright explained that, because BYC sourced many of its home decor components from a California-based supplier affected by the wildfires, the business had already been struggling in recent weeks.  Between the disruptions to the brand’s operations and the additional fees and increased operating costs it faced even before the tariffs announcement, Wright said it that maintaining consistent quality and delivery timelines was no longer an option. “After five years in operation, I made the difficult decision to dissolve BYC as of June 1, 2025, and cut my losses before going deeper into a situation that I couldn’t control,” she said. “Looking ahead over the next one to two years, tariffs will absolutely shape how I do business. I’ll be much more selective about any product-based ventures and lean heavily into digital content and intellectual property. For me, this lesson was swift and clear: diversification and adaptability aren’t optional, they’re survival tools, especially with small businesses.”  How brand founders should approach the next 90 days John Mercer, Coresight’s head of global research, remarked that “the 90-day period may represent a permanent reshaping of the planned tariffs, or it could be what it is stated as being, a temporary pause.” The Coresight executive theorised that a temporary pause could provide some time for retailers and brands to consider and plan, although a 10 per cent global tariff will remain in place. “That consideration should include what mix of passing on costs, absorbing costs and pushing costs back on suppliers is optimum and achievable for each company and its consumers,” he said. Mercer added that “it should also include preparing the organisation for a future in which tariffs are likely to be more central, companies can consider establishing centres of excellence focused on tariffs and new leadership additions in ‘chief tariffs officer’-type roles.”