FIGHTING FOR SMALL BUSINESS: MY PITCH TO CONGRESS ON TARIFF REFORM

If you follow me on LinkedIn, you might already know my strong opinions on the new tariffs. They’re idiotic.

Watching this self-inflicted wound happen to the consumer products industry (which includes menswear) has been hard to stomach.

But my big mouth netted me an invite from the National Retail Federation (NRF) this past May to join a few other business owners to meet with legislative staff members from the White House and Congress. We were asked to share our stories with lawmakers about how these tariffs are negatively impacting our small businesses.

By way of background, I’m the owner of Beau Ties of Vermont, a cut and sew factory where we’ve been handcrafting men’s formal accessories here in the U.S. since 1993.

Like most formal accessories, the majority of our products are made of silk jacquard. And silk jacquard is not manufactured anywhere in the U.S. Which means we have no choice but to import it from other countries around the world like China and Italy.

So when I arrived in Congress, my pitch to Washington D.C. was specific: Made-in-America companies that import fabrics, parts, and materials from overseas should be exempt from tariffs. Especially companies that have no or limited options domestically.

I was (and I still am) confident that this is a logical, apolitical, and unoffensive position to any American legislator or voter.

When I took this message around to Congress and the White House, I was hopeful of a warm response. After all, tariffs are supposedly meant to protect American manufacturers like us to keep production here in the U.S.

Not surprisingly, the warmth of the response depended on which party I was speaking with.

Not to be political here, but as you might expect, the legislative staff from the Democratic Party was open, engaging and curious about our company’s situation and my proposal. They took notes and we had a meaningful dialogue on how the tariffs were affecting small businesses of all kinds. They promised to share my story and my views with the Senator or Representative they work for.

However, the Republicans I spoke with were less engaging, less curious and less conversational. I said my piece and they thanked me for sharing. That was basically the extent of my meetings. They didn’t ask many questions. They didn’t take any notes. We didn’t engage in much dialogue.

Given their “We love American manufacturing” rhetoric that they so often share, I was disappointed at their apparent lack of interest in what I had to say. I thought they’d see the logic in my proposal to exempt domestic manufacturers from tariffs. But I’m not sure they even tried.

Then there was the White House, which was a whole different bag of worms.

All the business owners from the trip as a group met with a young woman from the Office of the Public Liaison. She started our meeting with a speech that reminded me of one of President Trump’s cabinet meetings. Which meant we got to hear how great everything President Trump is doing, how brilliant President Trump is and how horrible President Biden was.

Her speech then veered off into a stump speech as to why the “Big Beautiful Bill” should be passed by Congress.

Our NRF ambassador (who had joined us) politely interrupted her to remind her that we were small business owners who were simply there to share how the new tariffs were negatively impacting our businesses. After a brief pause, she said “Ok great. Who wants to go first?”

Four of us were able to share our stories. You already know what we said – our costs have gone up. Our planning and forecasting have become impossible. And that business in general is in chaos.

I was last. I echoed those sentiments. I then shared our story and proposed that we be exempt from tariffs given that the fabrics we use are imported and cannot be sourced domestically.

Given the White House’s stated plan to bring back American manufacturing, I was excited to hear her response.

But she didn’t respond. She didn’t say anything. In fact, she barely had any expression at all.

She simply went right into her closing argument about how great the country is doing under President Trump and that we should all support the Big Beautiful Bill. It was dumbfounding.

When the White House meeting ended, each of the small business owners looked at each other in disbelief. In fact, one of the owners, who identifies as a Republican, said “What the f*%k was that?”

When I returned from DC, I wrote a one-page proposed Senate Bill which exempts Made-in-America businesses from paying tariffs on imported fabrics, parts or materials. Very short. Very easy to understand.

I emailed the proposed Senate Bill to our Senators (Democrats Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch) with a request for them to introduce it into Congress. I sent it to their legislative staff as well, whom I had met with on the trip.

Unfortunately, I haven’t heard back from anyone.

Why? I don’t know. “We’re busy doing other things”, which I assume is what they’d say, is not a satisfying answer. As business owners, we’re all doing hundreds of different things every day. There’s no reason this kind of legislation can’t be introduced and voted in by Congress quickly. But it’s not.

I’m not losing hope though. Change often starts with one voice and I’ll keep using my big mouth until someone in DC takes up this cause.