SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Despite the three-month pause that President Trump announced in early April, local businesses are still feeling the impacts, with the expectation that they’ll ripple out into late this year and all through 2026 and beyond. Local businesses like Idle Hour, Tahoe Cruises, South Lake Brewery and Cuppa Tahoe spoke about the specific impacts happening here.

One of Trump’s major platforms this time around has been tariffs—taxes imposed by a country on the goods and services imported from another, restricting imports and making them less desirable to domestic customers. Trump has said he believes this will create a source of federal revenue, bring new companies to the United States, prevent drugs and immigrants from entering the country, and protect American manufacturing.

The United States has long maintained trade partnerships with many countries, but tariffs have caused conflict with Canada and Mexico, two of the largest trading partners. And the trade war with China has now resulted in a 145% tariff to Chinese goods.

While Trump issued a pause that will expire in July, businesses are making decisions now in order to maintain their margins and stay afloat. The tides of tariffs will likely continue to shift, but business owners weighed in.

Impacts on the horizon

South Lake Brewing Company is one of the biggest production breweries on the south shore, making roughly 1800 barrels per year. They’ve been open for eight years, surviving the COVID-19 pandemic and opening a second location near Stateline. And while brewing for them is very domestic—95% of their hops are grown in the United States—owner Nicole Smith still knows there will be impacts.

“Everyone says it’s coming,” said Smith. “It hasn’t happened yet for a lot of our stuff, but it’s going to.” While alcohol is one of the impacted industries, local breweries are more concerned about a different import—aluminum.

While Brewers Supply Group has told breweries like South Lake Brewing Company that they are going to absorb tariff costs for the time being, aluminum can packaging is likely to be risky. Smith says that South Lake Brewing sells cans to customers, restaurants, grocery stores, and other breweries. And the costs of aluminum rising will add up, especially as suppliers already charge a higher shipping fee for delivering up the mountain.

Smith spoke about how she was concerned that bigger breweries could buy up the domestic supply of aluminum and potentially resell them at higher prices, making it harder for small businesses like hers to continue selling cases of beer.

Right now, one of her solutions has been to partner with Alibi Ale Works in Truckee to buy cans. “It’s kind of neat that we’re banding together… I’m encouraged to see suppliers eat the cost and I think we’ll be able to ride it out together.”

Pivoting and getting creative

Chris Neira, director of operations for Tahoe Cruises and The Idle Hour, said, “We don’t know what’s coming, but we expect 2026 is going to hit us really hard.” Imported alcohols are likely to cost more as tariffs potentially rise, especially for businesses with customer bases who have specific preferences.

“We’ll probably just have to bite the bullet on things like tequila or mezcal,” Neira said, “And we’re doing more research to look at the costs, inventory, and pricing structure.” The day of the interview, The Idle Hour was looking into sampling more sparkling wines to compensate for potential raises in price for champagne.

Many businesses are looking into domestic and local products in response to the tariffs, but choosing those suppliers may mean having to invest more in preparation. For example, food vendors often provide pre-sliced or pre-cooked ingredients in bulk to restaurants, which is helpful for places without a full kitchen. Now, when raw products may be more cost-efficient, these businesses will have to make changes.

“In that challenge is where creativity comes,” said Neira, who has worked for a long time in the food industry. “It’s gonna take a lot to hold us back as we continue to pivot, to look at new options, to make it possible for us to keep giving out guests what they want.”

Sandra Santane, owner of Cuppa Tahoe, also saw her business through the COVID-19 pandemic that wiped out many local businesses. “As a small business owner, you’re constantly challenged to revisit and question the choices that you make in order to reduce costs and maintain quality.”

“That is the strength of small businesses,” said Santane. “Our flexibility and our creativity gives us and our communities the backbone needed to recover from market instability.”

Prices and your wallet

While food and alcohol suppliers are also among those who plan to “eat the cost” of the tariffs, that will probably only carry businesses through the end of year. Right now, they’re ordering in bulk to try to stabilize the pricing. But that means businesses will probably see the cost in the future—perhaps even years from now.

But for retail, electronics, vehicles, and foods difficult to buy in bulk, the cost has instantly risen, forcing many to decide whether they’ll pass the price to the consumer. One employee of Toy Maniacs bemoaned how prices shot back up for games, toys, and other entertainment products, which are often manufactured overseas. “After we’d just started recovering from the insanely high COVID prices, this happens.”

Santane, who also does retail in Cuppa Tahoe, said that she gets emails from many of the brands she carries about later ship dates, attempts to secure prices, and potential hiccups in their services. She said only two vendors told her that they would take on the cost. Of the nearly 400 brands they carry, the rest will be raising their prices to compensate.

Smith, Neira, and Santane all held firm that they wouldn’t be changing their prices just yet—that they’d already decided as business owners that fluctuating or sharply rising prices would hurt their sales. “But at some point, there is no holding back that we will have to pass it to the customer. That’s just the reality,” said Santane.

“Things are so volatile right now that vendors eating the cost might average out. But there’s a lot of uncertainty and a real lowering of morale that will probably happen,” said Neira. As an avid food lover, he enjoyed eating at other restaurants, which also gave him inspiration. But those things are rapidly becoming more and more expensive. “The things that bring us joy is what’s gonna get cut out.”

Cutting budgets on the business side can also make it more challenging to offer variety. While Cuppa Tahoe succeeded in transitioning to making their own in-house syrups rather than buying syrups from a vendor, their new menu will have to cut food items like bagels—a choice made in response to lower sales overall.

With how unpredictable things are, Neira said he believed it could limit creativity as budgets grow more and more narrow. And cutting employees is a real option, though not one that many are willing to consider. But the price of labor may become too much for businesses in the future. “That would be the hardest part for me personally, especially because we’re a service-oriented business,” said Neira.

“I have so much more anxiety around the news now. The pause is going to take us through part of the summer and that could help, but it’s challenging,” Neira continued.

Santane said that she and other businesses are already planning to stay ahead of the tariffs by making changes now. “But for small businesses, this is a huge blow. We work on smaller margins, we don’t have a buffer like big box stores do. In the long run, we’ll go out of business.”

She implored people to keep supporting local businesses to keep them running through this precarious time. “Small businesses are so key in these communities. But it’s all been an emotional rollercoaster and the tariffs are just so much to absorb. When does it all stop?”

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.