To say Donald Trump‘s sweeping tariffs have sent shockwaves across financial markets and caused uncertainty around the globe would be an understatement. In fact, due to the stock markets nosediving recently, the U.S. has instigated a temporary measure by introducing a 90-day pause on some of its proposed tariffs around the world. However, China has been exempt from this newly announced pause. Instead, China and the U.S. have become embroiled in an escalating trade war, with Trump raising China’s tariffs from 104% to 125%, and China having just upped its tariffs on the U.S. from 84% to 125%, per The Guardian. This is all important context for a small business in California, as the escalating tariff war between the U.S. and China has “destroyed” it overnight. The business owner — Chantel Clark — took to TikTok to share her bad news in an emotional video that sheds light on a situation many small businesses are facing in the U.S. right now.
The one-minute clip is accompanied by the text “Trump destroyed my small business” and sees the small business owner, Chantel Clark, looking directly into the camera and giving her personal story of what happened to her business as a result of Trump’s recent tariffs on China. “I feel like the past 24 hours has just been a complete nightmare. 104% on imports coming from China.” explains Clark, though it’s worth noting that Trump has actually increased the tariffs from 104% to 125% since the video went live yesterday.
“And that means my small business that I have put everything into is f*cking done. I quit my corporate job about a year and a half ago to chase my dreams.” reveals Clark. “I designed and launched a kids fitness brand and it was going great. I paid fair wages. I built relationships. And then overnight, the cost just more than doubled; my margins were gone.”
With tears welling in her eyes, Clark continues on, “You know, my business doesn’t pay for a yacht or a private jet. It pays for our daughter’s swim classes. It covers groceries. It helps with babysitters on date nights. This isn’t just numbers on a policy sheet. It’s real people, real jobs, real families. And now I’m back at square one. So, wish me luck.”
With the emotionally-charged clip circulating across the internet right now, social media users took to the comments section to let their voice be heard. Over on TikTok, one user wrote, “This is everything Kamala was trying to tell us 😩” with another chiming in with, “Well at least politicians made millions on the stock market.” A third commenter declared, “Trump destroyed 100,000 small businesses his first term. Mine included. This term will be worse. Sorry.“
