Boston Globe, January 2025
Todd Nicholson and his partner, Rebecca Ernst, are planning for the future of their three-year-old brewery in Bristol, R.I. But with President-elect Donald Trump proposing to impose tariffs on goods coming into the country from Mexico, Canada, and China, they are worried about how to proceed. Like many small businesses in New England, Pivotal Brewing Co. relies on some products from other countries. Trump’s plan — a 25 percent tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada and a 10 percent tax on imports from China — is intended to encourage big companies to produce goods domestically. But economists say the plan could be detrimental to small businesses, driving up operating costs and making it harder for them to stay afloat.
New England is fueled by small businesses. Approximately 99 percent of companies in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut have 500 or fewer employees, according to the US Small Business Administration. If small businesses are struggling, the economy of each state in the region could be affected.
