Tariffs Hit The Village

By Alec Pruchnicki

TRUMP WAS RIGHT, Venezuela is transporting psychoactive substances into the U.S., like this coffee available in McNulty’s Tea and Coffee on Christopher Street. Photo by Alec Pruchnicki.

Since Trump instituted wide-spread tariffs on imports, economists have been predicting who will be hurt by them. One consensus is that small businesses that don’t have the deep pockets of the big retailers will be least able to take the financial strains. The Village is known for small businesses like bars, restaurants, and small retail shops of every description. Here is one example of what’s happening to a local merchant.

McNulty’s has been in business since 1895 selling a wide variety of imported teas and coffees. In 2011 it received an award from Village Preservation (then known as The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation) for its service to the community. I’ve been going there for coffee since I moved to The Village in 1993. Since almost all coffee sold in the U.S. is imported, except for a little from Hawaii, it seemed to me that McNulty’s would be hit immediately by the tariffs. On a recent visit I noticed that their price list hadn’t changed and I wondered how they managed this.

I spoke to the owner, David Wong, about how he kept prices the same. The answer was simple: he is eating the costs for the time being. The last price increase he had was February 2025 and he fully expects it to go up again this February to cover normal increases in business costs. Although he is covering the tariff costs right now, he is waiting to see how the Supreme Court will rule about whether these increases are constitutional or not.

He isn’t the only person waiting for this decision. As of this writing (on January 12) there has been no decision. It can come any day, or maybe in June when many decisions are traditionally announced, or even at the very last day of the current session this coming October. The Supreme Court, especially this Court, has frequently sided with Trump, but not always. Also, there is the possibility that the decision will not be all or none, but some sort of compromise which will affect some imports and not others.

If the Court overturns all or part of the tariffs, there may be a possibility that some of the fees paid by retailers will be refunded. The potential details of this are unclear. Will there be complete returns, partial returns, lots of paperwork to qualify for the returns, or a simplified system? Also, if the Trump administration appeals, as it often does, how long can this process be drawn out before the damage to small retailers, like McNulty’s, becomes irreversible?

Since there is such a wide variety of stores in our neighborhoods, it is hard to generalize about what impact a complete or partial reversal of tariffs could mean. Restaurants might be able to replace imported meats and cheeses with local produce, but imported beers and wines might be more difficult. One of my favorite restaurant/bars is Café Katja on Orchard Street. It produces most of its food from local sources but the beer, wine, and liquor are almost entirely imported. Clothing stores, especially the kind that have long lines in front of them during fashion frenzies for a particular imported brand, might also lack the flexibility needed for survival.

On the other hand, many of these places survived Covid, when the potential for economic disaster was great. And, of course, this is New York and we pride ourselves on our survival skills. So, watch the Supreme Court and hope for the best.