SF Chinatown shops brace for rising costs amid US.-China trade tensions

San Francisco's Chinatown businesses feel the pinch as 145% tariff hits

In San Francisco’s Chinatown, small merchants say they are struggling with rising costs tied to steep tariffs on Chinese imports. Supervisor Matt Haney joined local business owners in rallying against the tariffs, calling for federal action to protect vulnerable communities.

SAN FRANCISCO - Small businesses in San Francisco’s Chinatown are bracing for the economic impact of the United States’ imposed tariffs on Chinese imports, which have reached as high as 145%.

Many merchants say they are already seeing prices rise on essential goods, and while some are holding off on passing those increases to customers, the pressure is mounting.

Major online retailers like Temu and Shein announced price hikes last week, with Temu now displaying "import charges" at checkout that, in some cases, double the cost of items.

Chinatown businesses brace for impact

On Tuesday, small business owners rallied in Chinatown alongside California Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) to call on the Trump administration to end the tariffs. They say the new trade policy is having a direct and damaging impact on local communities.

"It is something that he is saying is targeting the Chinese government, it is intended to punish them, it is punishing our local businesses, it is punishing our community... when Chinatown is hit, all of us are hit here in this city," said Haney.

San Francisco’s Chinatown is home to more than 1,000 small businesses, many of which import up to 90% of their goods from China, including specialty ingredients, spices, and cultural products.

"Just as an example, across the board we know that many merchants have raised their prices, 30 to 40% and also some prices have gone up 100%," said Donald Luu, president of the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

Despite the rising costs, some small business owners said they’re trying to hold off on raising prices while they sell through their current inventory, hoping a trade deal might be reached before they need to place another order.

"I’m seeing numbers about consumer confidence being shaken and my consumer confidence is being shaken, because I don’t know what’s going to be happening next year, I don’t know if we’re going to be in a trade war... It’s hard to plan ahead when you have no idea what’s coming," said San Francisco resident Alex Kolchinski.

"A lot of times when I shop on the TikTok Shop, a lot of those items come from China. I do know, no matter how much I feel financially stable, price is a factor, so it would impact how I would shop based on the price," said Becky Mincio, a San Francisco resident.

Trump praises Jeff Bezos 

On Tuesday, President Trump said he called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos directly to express concern over the company's reported consideration of displaying tariffs next to product prices. Amazon said it was not serious about implementing the plan. 

"Jeff Bezos was very nice. He was terrific. He solved the problem very quickly and, he did the right thing," Trump said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had addressed the matter earlier, calling it politically motivated.

"This is a hostile and political act by Amazon," she said.

California is among several states suing to stop the tariffs. Gov. Gavin Newsom has said the state is actively pursuing international trade deals to exempt California-made goods from retaliatory tariffs.

"I think in terms of nationally, I’m very worried, I’m very scared. I think there’s a lot of jargon that’s not understood around what tariffs are and what the impact of what that can look like in the long run," said San Francisco resident Georjean Morado.