April 29, 2025 • 6 mins
Rebecca Minkoff Co-Founder Rebecca Minkoff discusses tariffs, its affects on small businesses\, and seeking relief for small businesses via a petition to President Trump. Minkoff spoke with Bloomberg's Katie Greifeld, Sonali Basak and Matt Miller.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
With Us Now is Rebecca mincov. She is the founder
and chief creative officer of Rebecca Mincouf. Rebecca also part
of a group of small business owners who wrote an
open letter to President Trump and lawmakers urging tariff exemptions
on small businesses. Rebecca, it's great to have you with
us now. Tell us about the response. Have you heard
back from any of the lawmakers.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
We unfortunately have not heard back yet, but we do
know that Trump is listening, as we know with the news,
you know, the most recent news, it seems like there
is a willingness to listen, whether it's the noise.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
We've made or that in general, you know.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Small businesses are making across America and we're crossing our
fingers and hoping to get a meeting soon.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
How much would it cost to bring production here, Rebecca,
I mean, what kind of upcharge would you be looking at?
Is it anything compared to tariff's on China?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I think we have to first start with the infrastructure.
There is no hand infrastructure in America anymore besides a
couple of small factories in New York City. So not
only would we have to build a factory that could
make the amount of units for trying to make, but
we'd have to bring back hardware manufacturing, bring back tanning
and leather. I mean, these are all things that are
purchased overseas and assembled, whether it's China or where we
(01:19):
make in Cambodia and Vietnam. And so you're asking for,
you know, if you want this to really work, give
us grants to build factories, give us several years of
tear breaks in order to make these things happen, and
then we'd love to make in America. It just right now,
if I were to switch everything to America, my price
would double and my consumer is not here for that.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
You have spoken to so many other businesses in this letter.
You've given some real world impacts, and you've said that
you guys are becoming unintended collateral damage in this escalating
trade war. What do you think are the things people
really need to understand about how small businesses are faring
right now? The damage that's been caused today.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So the damage that's being caused to day, and some
incredible female founded brands like Juliette why Juliette Wines, right
Land Olive Oil State bags is as a small business,
we can't afford to absorb these costs like a bigger
company can with far larger negotiating power, and we can't
pass it on to our customers. So on the handbag side,
(02:21):
we're actually choosing to take the margin hit not pass
it on to our customer, because we know with the
rising cost of everything else, you know, a thirty dollars
impact to her is truly meaningful. And so we are
looking at over a billion dollars of damage that will
be affected if this goes through with just forty of
the businesses that sign the petition. So we're urging Trump
(02:43):
and lawmakers to truly listen to us and give us exemptions.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well, let's talk about what.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That means for you and your business, that decision to
take the margin had and to eat that cost. I mean,
what does that mean for your planning? Do you have
to pull back on hiring, do you have to reduce headcount,
pull back on maybe some planned exps? What does that
actually look like for you?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So ironically, the day that the tariffs were announced was
the same week that we were in market selling for
Q four of this year, so our buyers came in
all with very pulls back orders and conservative purchase orders,
which affects our Q four outlook.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
And so once we know that business is going to.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Be less than we thought it was, even if he
changed his mind, they're not coming back and saying we're
going to increase our orders because no one knows with
all this uncertainty.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
So I can't tell you.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
What the outlog looks like yet, but it is going
to impact everything you just mentioned, unfortunately, and it's terrible
because it impacts people's jobs, their livelihoods, and our ability
to expand.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
So we just heard from Scott Bessant and his comments
on I think tax breaks were a little bit overshadowed
by Caroline Levitt saying it was a hostile move by
Amazon to show consumers the cost impact of tariffs. Amazon
has now said, hey, we never planned on doing that anyways,
So it looks like they've been successfully scared off of that.
(04:03):
But I wonder to get back to his tax point
and to underline what you were saying earlier. If they
allow you to write off a factory, if they allow
you to write off all of the equipment, you still
need a reprieve on tariffs while you're building those things, right, Rebecca.
So I mean the tax carrot is great, but you've
(04:25):
still got the tariff stick beating you from behind.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Correct. And also we have to train and hire people
who know the craft of making handbags. That's not something
you just easily teach someone who graduates from college.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
And so I think there's so many factors we need time.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
You know, if this is going to happen, we need
probably three to five years to build up the infrastructure
to support this business again and then keep that going
when the new administration comes in in four years and
changes course. So it's really all about how do we
do this in sustainable way that doesn't change the minute
there's a new president.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
You know, you've brought up some potential here, including targeted grants,
But I want to focus on the number one issue
you brought up here, this idea of small business tariff exemptions.
How likely do you think that scenario would be for
there to be a threshold or by employees or revenue
that could get you through the door in a way
(05:19):
that could help you out when the larger businesses might
be disproportionately impacted in an easier way because they have
the scale to deal with this.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
You know, I think that it's a creative idea. It
gives us time, It helps ease a lot of these
small businesses where the pressure and our minimums are so
much lower, so we have a lot less leverage. We've
seen it done with the you know, microchips and Apple phones.
So if they're getting an exemption or they're not going
to be charged, I think we feel as small businesses
doing under fifty million.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Dollars, you know, keep us alive.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
We are employing millions of people collectively and affecting livelihoods
across the US. And so if you really want to
make America great again, you should make sure that we
don't go away, because a lot of the brands I
mentioned will go away.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
All right, Rebecca a somber note to leave that on.
Would love to stay in touch. Our thanks to Rebecca
Man Coffee
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
With Us Now is Rebecca mincov. She is the founder
and chief creative officer of Rebecca Mincouf. Rebecca also part
of a group of small business owners who wrote an
open letter to President Trump and lawmakers urging tariff exemptions
on small businesses. Rebecca, it's great to have you with
us now. Tell us about the response. Have you heard
back from any of the lawmakers.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
We unfortunately have not heard back yet, but we do
know that Trump is listening, as we know with the news,
you know, the most recent news, it seems like there
is a willingness to listen, whether it's the noise.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
We've made or that in general, you know.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Small businesses are making across America and we're crossing our
fingers and hoping to get a meeting soon.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
How much would it cost to bring production here, Rebecca,
I mean, what kind of upcharge would you be looking at?
Is it anything compared to tariff's on China?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I think we have to first start with the infrastructure.
There is no hand infrastructure in America anymore besides a
couple of small factories in New York City. So not
only would we have to build a factory that could
make the amount of units for trying to make, but
we'd have to bring back hardware manufacturing, bring back tanning
and leather. I mean, these are all things that are
purchased overseas and assembled, whether it's China or where we
(01:19):
make in Cambodia and Vietnam. And so you're asking for,
you know, if you want this to really work, give
us grants to build factories, give us several years of
tear breaks in order to make these things happen, and
then we'd love to make in America. It just right now,
if I were to switch everything to America, my price
would double and my consumer is not here for that.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
You have spoken to so many other businesses in this letter.
You've given some real world impacts, and you've said that
you guys are becoming unintended collateral damage in this escalating
trade war. What do you think are the things people
really need to understand about how small businesses are faring
right now? The damage that's been caused today.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
So the damage that's being caused to day, and some
incredible female founded brands like Juliette why Juliette Wines, right
Land Olive Oil State bags is as a small business,
we can't afford to absorb these costs like a bigger
company can with far larger negotiating power, and we can't
pass it on to our customers. So on the handbag side,
(02:21):
we're actually choosing to take the margin hit not pass
it on to our customer, because we know with the
rising cost of everything else, you know, a thirty dollars
impact to her is truly meaningful. And so we are
looking at over a billion dollars of damage that will
be affected if this goes through with just forty of
the businesses that sign the petition. So we're urging Trump
(02:43):
and lawmakers to truly listen to us and give us exemptions.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well, let's talk about what.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That means for you and your business, that decision to
take the margin had and to eat that cost. I mean,
what does that mean for your planning? Do you have
to pull back on hiring, do you have to reduce headcount,
pull back on maybe some planned exps? What does that
actually look like for you?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So ironically, the day that the tariffs were announced was
the same week that we were in market selling for
Q four of this year, so our buyers came in
all with very pulls back orders and conservative purchase orders,
which affects our Q four outlook.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
And so once we know that business is going to.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Be less than we thought it was, even if he
changed his mind, they're not coming back and saying we're
going to increase our orders because no one knows with
all this uncertainty.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
So I can't tell you.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
What the outlog looks like yet, but it is going
to impact everything you just mentioned, unfortunately, and it's terrible
because it impacts people's jobs, their livelihoods, and our ability
to expand.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
So we just heard from Scott Bessant and his comments
on I think tax breaks were a little bit overshadowed
by Caroline Levitt saying it was a hostile move by
Amazon to show consumers the cost impact of tariffs. Amazon
has now said, hey, we never planned on doing that anyways,
So it looks like they've been successfully scared off of that.
(04:03):
But I wonder to get back to his tax point
and to underline what you were saying earlier. If they
allow you to write off a factory, if they allow
you to write off all of the equipment, you still
need a reprieve on tariffs while you're building those things, right, Rebecca.
So I mean the tax carrot is great, but you've
(04:25):
still got the tariff stick beating you from behind.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Correct. And also we have to train and hire people
who know the craft of making handbags. That's not something
you just easily teach someone who graduates from college.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
And so I think there's so many factors we need time.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
You know, if this is going to happen, we need
probably three to five years to build up the infrastructure
to support this business again and then keep that going
when the new administration comes in in four years and
changes course. So it's really all about how do we
do this in sustainable way that doesn't change the minute
there's a new president.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
You know, you've brought up some potential here, including targeted grants,
But I want to focus on the number one issue
you brought up here, this idea of small business tariff exemptions.
How likely do you think that scenario would be for
there to be a threshold or by employees or revenue
that could get you through the door in a way
(05:19):
that could help you out when the larger businesses might
be disproportionately impacted in an easier way because they have
the scale to deal with this.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
You know, I think that it's a creative idea. It
gives us time, It helps ease a lot of these
small businesses where the pressure and our minimums are so
much lower, so we have a lot less leverage. We've
seen it done with the you know, microchips and Apple phones.
So if they're getting an exemption or they're not going
to be charged, I think we feel as small businesses
doing under fifty million.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Dollars, you know, keep us alive.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
We are employing millions of people collectively and affecting livelihoods
across the US. And so if you really want to
make America great again, you should make sure that we
don't go away, because a lot of the brands I
mentioned will go away.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
All right, Rebecca a somber note to leave that on.
Would love to stay in touch. Our thanks to Rebecca
Man Coffee
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