KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WFRV) – There’s lots of different opinions when it comes to the new tariffs that the Trump administration has rolled out.
In Kaukauna, Lora Glasel, the co-owner of Recyclist Bicycle Company, said she isn’t a fan.
“A lot of our products are going to be hit by multiple tariffs, so we are expecting the prices of everything to go up,” she told Local 5 News on Monday afternoon.
Glasel said the parts and raw materials to make bikes come from all over the world and that the Trump administration has imposed heavy tariffs on some of the countries where these parts are made. She said they’ve stocked up on inventory in preparation for the rollout of the tariffs.
She said it’s uncertain how much more she’ll have to pay for products for her bike shop, but fears that many products could be 25 to 65 percent more with the tariffs. She said unfortunately this will mean higher prices for customers at the store.
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“Prices of our stuff will go up, things will become unaffordable for people and we believe leisure dollars will be scarce for people,” said Glasel. “Our hope is that our community knows right now how much we need them to shop with us.”
She said right now people are coming into the store to ‘panic buy,’ trying to stock up on items before the tariffs potentially inflate prices.
President Trump has said that the tariffs will likely bring a little bit of pain to consumers in the short term, but sees a “beautiful picture at the end.”
“I think for all small businesses temporary pain is tough, you don’t have the means that some corporations have to absorb those costs,” Glasel said.
The stock market has remained volatile amid the rollout of these new tariffs. On Monday, President Trump threatened additional tariffs on China.
Congressman Tony Wied said he supports Trump’s tariff plan and believes that it’ll end up helping out the economy.
“We want to bring and the president wants to bring more jobs, more industrial jobs back to this country,” Wied told Local 5 News on Monday afternoon. “Re-industrialize our great country.”
According to the Associated Press, over 50 countries have reached out to the United States about launching negotiations to lift the tariffs. Proponents of the tariffs say this is a sign they’re working and that the economy will eventually improve.
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“We’re in a very unfair trade situation, a very tough spot people have been taking advantage of us for a very long time,” Wied told Local 5 News. “Every time we send out a product we’re getting taxed and tariffed at huge rates.”
Local 5 News has spoken to several dozen community members in both Green Bay and Appleton about the tariffs. Although this isn’t to say that there isn’t a large amount of pro-tariff people out there in these communities, all the people who spoke on and off the record to Local 5 News for this story said they had concerns about these tariffs.
For Mike Gossen of Green Bay, he said he’s worried about his retirement.
“I’m almost 50 years old and looking at retirement in the next 10 or 12 years, (so it’s concerning) to watch your 401k’s kind of dip down,” he told Local 5 News on Monday afternoon. “I know the market roller coasters but it’s a scary sight to see.”
Jarrett Brown said he’s heading to law school in Arkansas next fall. He said the tariffs have created uncertainty in the economy which has made planning for his expenses when he’s a student difficult.
“My biggest concern is it’s hard to plan because we don’t know,” he told Local 5 News. “When everything is in flux, everything is fluid it’s hard to plan.”
Forecasters with Goldman Sachs give the U.S. economy a 45 percent chance of entering a recession within the next year. Local 5 News spoke with a local investment advisor in Appleton who said he doesn’t think the U.S. will go into recession, citing the size and diversity of our country’s economy.
“Negotiate free and fair trade to bring jobs back to this country where we want them,” Tony Wied said about the purpose of the tariffs. “We want our middle class to thrive, we want jobs, we want higher paying jobs for our great middle class.”
