It’s been tit-for-tat tariff chaos in Washington, with the president wielding tariff threats as political leverage in border wars. If American companies end up paying more to import and export goods to and from China, Canada and Mexico, that could impact New Jersey consumers. Cars, for example, could cost thousands of dollars more.
“Potentially as much as $3,000 per vehicle,” said Laura Perrotta, who heads NJ CAR, the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers. “That would be felt by the New Jersey consumer and every consumer around the country.” Perrotta said that before cars land at the dealer, they cross Canadian or Mexican borders up to eight times during manufacturing. Tariffs would slow or stop the process, she predicted, leading to empty showrooms reminiscent of pandemic-era shortages.
Twenty percent of New Jersey jobs depend on the import-export trade market and New Jersey ports handle billions in cargo, according to Chris Emigholz of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. Tariffs would disrupt supply chains, forcing companies to scramble for parts and raw materials, with the extra passed on mostly to consumers.
“Anytime you make things more expensive, especially in a state that already is expensive like New Jersey, it’s going to hurt our economy,” Emigholz said.
“And it’s also more expensive for everyone going to the supermarket, going to a restaurant, paying their bills. All of those costs will go up. We just got out of this high inflation environment. I don’t want to go back in that.”
Tariffs cut both ways. Will Canadians stop buying Jersey blueberries? Will they boycott vacations down the Shore? In a social media post, President Trump warned, “WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!) BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.”
“I wasn’t hearing this back in October — that there was going to be pain felt by the American consumer,” Tom Prusa, a professor in economics at Rutgers University, said. “So there is some recognition that this policy is going to be costly for Americans.” He noted that tariffs could reap a windfall in revenue for the Trump administration, which has promised to extend and expand corporate and other tax cuts.
Marcia Frieze runs Case Medical, a business based in Bloomfield with crucial international connections and employs about 170 workers.
“The people that I’m really concerned about are those that are really dependent upon our economy for groceries and rent, sending their kids to school, paying for health care, you know, all the basic things, because the objective is not to help the people that are struggling,” Frieze said.
Frieze fears her business could suffer in a tariff battle. Case Medical makes containers out of imported sheet metal, buys machinery from China, and sells its products in places like Mexico and Canada, New Jersey’s top two international trading partners. Anticipating tariffs, Frieze started stockpiling raw materials last year.
