SAN YSIDRO, Calif. (KGTV) — It's hard to find low prices in California: a pair of slippers for $10, an insulated vest for $15.
Carolina Lin said if the prices were any higher, her family's business in San Ysidro would struggle to survive.
"The area that our business is in, prices are supposed to be super cheap," Lin said.
So how do they do it? Well, everything in Lin’s store was made in China. The cheaper cost of labor allowed Carolin Shoes to import and sell these products at a discount for more than 20 years.
"How much would a 20% tariff on goods from China affect the pricing of your shoes and goods?"
"That's just going to make business harder. Not just for us, but everyone who has business in the border. Probably 90% of us get our merchandise from China,” Lin said.
President Trump plans to add another 10% tariff on Chinese goods on Tuesday, raising it to a total of 20% since he took office. Tariffs are taxes charged on goods imported from other countries.
The companies that bring those foreign goods into the country can choose to pass that cost on to buyers, like small business owners.
"It's going to affect us greatly because we're going to have to raise our prices. Prices that no customers will want to pay, and they won't want to cross the border,” said Lin.
Lin told ABC 10News this area of the South Bay was already suffering from a drop in customers. COVID-19 and partial closures of the PedWest Port of Entry have had a permanent impact.
"When I was born, up to now, this has been my second home. This second home is slowly disappearing over time,” said Lin.
She's worried these tariffs will be the last straw.
