Today in Global Small Business: Trump's Obsession With More and More Tariffs

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Tariffs are an obsession for President Trump, much as climate was for the Biden Administration. How else to explain his imposition of yet another round of border taxes three months before the November election despite their political unpopularity and economic harm?
• ChatGPT for small businesses.
• Latest tariff update(s) from Global-e.
• Quote of the week:  “The European Union questioned the new tariff, with its foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas calling it a “negative surprise” and rejecting the forced labor claims as unfounded."
• How people are really using AI in 2026 (HBR).
• What's going to happen with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement?

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of May, 2026, we average between 700,000-900,000 readers a month.  Thank you for your engagement!  

Today in Global Small Business: Unlocking the Growth Equation for SMEs in Africa's Fragile Markets

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in fragile Africa need growth capital to thrive. Investors are constantly seeking promising businesses to invest in.
• Expand globally with confidence.
• Quote of the week:  “The African is my brother but he is my younger brother by several centuries." – Albert Schweitzer
• Small businesses wither under Trump’s tariffs: ‘It’s hard to breathe’.
• Five small businesses that helped knock down Trump's tariffs.
• How to boost exports?  Learn from France.

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of February 1, 2026, we have more than 900,000 readers on a monthly basis.

China's Trade Surplus

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According to Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy in the Dyson School at Cornell University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution:

"China’s trade surplus – the amount by which its exports exceed its imports – hit a staggering $1.19 trillion in 2025, according to official numbers released on Wednesday (1/14/26). The figure shows just how much China is an exporting powerhouse but is also a sign of its economic weakness and of how its practices pose a greater danger to free trade than even President Trump’s tariffs."

Read the entire article at The New York Times (gifted):  Forget Trump’s Tariffs. The Real Danger Lies in China’s Trade Surplus.

Trump's Sweeping Tariffs EXCEED His Authority

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Trump’s tariffs are headed to the Supreme Court after a court ruled them illegal.  A federal appeals court relied on recent Supreme Court rulings when it found President Trump's sweeping tariffs exceed his authority.

Last week, a federal appeals court found that President Donald Trump’s imposition of sweeping tariffs on billions of dollars of goods coming into the U.S. exceeded presidential authority.

Will the Supreme Court side with Trump?  If they do, it provides further evidence of what many Americans fear: that this court has a different set of rules for the Trump administration.

Trump's Tariffs Are Forcing Global Small Business Owners to Raise Prices

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Many CEOs of small and medium-sized consumer product businesses in the U.S. say President Donald Trump’s tariffs could force them to raise prices before the end of the year.

Last week, Trump updated tariff rates for dozens of countries, ranging from 10% to 41% duties that go into effect starting Aug. 7. Goods that are considered to have been transshipped, or shipped through an intermediate country to disguise where they were originally made to avoid applicable duties, will be hit with an additional 40% rate.

U.S. businesses that stocked up on inventory earlier this year are now starting to run out, they say. When they reorder from their overseas manufacturers, they’ll need to pay steep import costs.

“I’ve been questioning, ‘What is the American Dream?’ because I thought I was living it,” a business owner says. “I served my country, I got an education, I bought a home, I started a business. ... This is not a dream anymore.”

Under Pressure: The U.S. Dollar

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Bernhard Warner reports that President Trump’s tariffs are expected to sock most countries this year and next, the O.E.C.D. said. But the hit to the United States is especially spooking economists and Wall Street, who worry about lower growth colliding with a Republican spending bill that packs big tax cuts — and gargantuan deficits.

All of that is putting pressure on the [U.S.] dollar.

Many Are Questioning the Wisdom of Tariffs

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A little late to the table here ... major figures in the investing world are questioning the wisdom of Trump's tariffs.  Some say it is "a mistake" and "masochistic," as Larry Summers says below.

“Trump’s tariffs are the most expensive and masochistic the U.S. has pursued in decades. A very crude estimate of Trump’s tariffs puts the projected loss at US$20 trillion dollars, or well over US$200,000 per family of four.” — Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary, on X.

Today in Global Small Business: SNL's Latest Episode Where Trump Provides an Update On His Recent Tariffs

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Oh, have some fun with SNL's latest episode where Trump provides an update on his recent tariffs.
• Trade.gov is still up and running.  Here's the part I like best:  Are you experiencing a trade barrier?  Go here.  Is there anyone who is NOT experiencing a trade barrier right now?
• EXIM is still up and running – doing its best to keep America strong.
• Quote of the week:  “There is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.” – Milton Friedman
• SBA's Office of International Trade is still up and running.
• Defiant Trump vows to stay the course as countries scramble over tariffs.

Today in Global Small Business: Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago 2025

©2025 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago, Illinois, Sunday, March, 23, 2025.
• Small businesses are running out of moves in Trump's trade wars.
• Quote of the week:  “The scariest thing about what President Trump is doing with his tariffs-for-all strategy, I believe, is that he has no clue what he is doing — or how the world economy operates, for that matter. He’s just making it all up as he goes along — and we are all along for the ride.” – Thomas L. Friedman, 2/18/25, NY Times Opinion
• How Trump's tariffs are impacting U.S. small businesses.
• This Canadian business survived 142 years, but maybe not Trump’s trade war.
• Scrambling to adapt, tariffs on imports impact global small businesses.

Today in Global Small Business: Global Supply Chain Trends to Watch in 2025

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Global supply chain trends to watch in 2025.
• Tariff discussions in health care and life sciences industries stoke global supply chain concerns.
• Quote of the week: "What gets measured gets improved.” – Peter Drucker
• Suppliers adopt ‘power of two’ to combat global supply chain disruptions.
• Trump’s tariffs could spark price hikes, supply chain disruptions, experts say.
• Will AI reboot supply chains?

Risks to Global Growth Are Rising

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While the IMF has maintained its global growth forecast of 3.9% for this year and next, it has cut the outlook for the UK and the eurozone among others.

The outlook for the global economy has darkened as trade tensions rise and growth becomes uneven, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Read more on how Trump's tariffs will hurt global growth, the International Monetary Fund warns.