Story by Patti Brown
As the Town’s summer visitor season kicks off this month, retailers are beginning to see tariffs on invoices for imported merchandise they will put on their shelves to sell.
More than 40 business and community members attended a panel discussion on dealing with tariffs and understanding the uncertain economic landscape Monday afternoon at the Estes Park Holiday Inn, hosted by the Estes Valley Voice.
Adam Crowe, economic development manager for Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development, moderated the discussion, which included Mark Ell, a financial advisor with Alpha Capital Management Group, Maureen McCann, owner of The Mad Moose, Rajiv Poudel, owner of Estes Village and several other area businesses, and Scott Applegate, president and CEO of the Bank of Estes Park.
Saying, “Brace yourself,” Ell provided a 30,000-foot overview of what has transpired over the past several weeks and how the tariffs may affect the economy throughout the calendar year and beyond.
While the situation with tariffs is fluid, Ell said economic data is already starting to show the impact of supply delays, shortages, price hikes, and market volatility, “which is rolling into what we would call inflation.”
Imports from some countries carry a 10% to 50% tariff, with products from China carrying a tariff of 145%, up from 20% before April 2. This is increasing the wholesale prices of toys, furniture, clothes, smartphones, computers, and consumer electronics.
“The way U.S. imports work is China sends us about $440 billion worth of products every year. The U.S. sends about $150 billion of its products to China every year. So, there’s a trade deficit of about $300 billion,” Ell said.
To balance that, Ell said the White House is trying to negotiate better bilateral trade agreements with many nations in a 90-deals-in-90-days tariff pause with some countries. As this plays out, consumer sentiment has fallen, which will likely impact spending locally, at least in the short term.
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