Sen. Tammy Baldwin tours small businesses as tariffs impact everyday operations
MONONA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- As you are likely feeling the pressure from price increases so are local businesses. Senator Tammy Baldwin was in Wisconsin to hear how tariffs are impacting business owners, where she has been touring their stores and hearing what products are costing them more. For small businesses like Fraboni’s which specializes in Italian delicacies they are being impacted by tariffs especially for products that have tomatoes in them.
“This whole wall here this is all almost all of this is from Europe some stuff from South America to a couple Canadian items in this shop,” Bennett Fraboni explained as he showed Senator Baldwin around his family’s store.
The Fraboni family has been running their specialty shop since 1970s. Their shop is a staple; now everyday items are costing more.
“Tomatoes and lettuce were to two big ones right around April and May they have jumped some of them went up from 50 to 60 to 70 and then towards the end of it some of them tripled in price,” Bennett who co-owns the shop with his family said.
When those costs increase, business owners say they're left with a difficult choice. To pass the cost off on to their customers or wait for prices to re-adjust for some imported items, the Fraboni’s say that’s not possible.
“Some of the things from Europe and across the pond those have gone up, that we’ve passed on,” Bennett said.
Senator Tammy Baldwin who calls the Iran war 'a war of choice, says the president's policies are what are creating these increases.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin
“The type of policies that this president has engaged in are extremely harmful to the consumer and to our small businesses and to our farmers who are producing these products,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) Wisconsin said.
However, the chair of the Wisconsin republican party says President trump is creating a better future with short term hardship.
“Is the United States going to stand by while Iran develops a nuclear weapon what is that worth to people to have yet another country that radically hates the United States doesn’t dislike doesn’t disagree with the United States radically hates the United States,” Brian Schimming the Chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin said.
An increase in prices for the time being that doesn’t seem to be coming down anytime soon.