April 21, 2025 03:32 PM UTC

Trump Tariffs are Killing Colorado Businesses

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• by: Colorado Pols

We noted last week the increasing concerns of Coloradans worried about Trump administration cutbacks in resources for national parks — federal lands which contribute billions of dollars to the local economy and account for nearly 40,000 jobs statewide.

As Jason Blevins reports for The Colorado Sun, many small businesses operating in the outdoor recreation sector are laying off employees and shuttering operations altogether because of a different Trump policy: The on again, off again Tariff Wars.

Since 2012 Lane Willson’s bikepacking business in Salida has handcrafted some of the best bike bags in cycling. Last week she had 16 workers — she calls them “stitch witches” working 20 machines — in downtown Salida, churning out all sorts of Oveja Negra frame bags and backpacks for long-haul cyclists.

This week Willson and her partners — husband, Monte, and co-owner Stephanie Perko — had to lay off seven trained sewists and move two workers into part-time contracting. She spent years teaching those workers how to design and sew Oveja Negra bags.

“The American dream is being destroyed by this administration,” Willson says…

…Bike shops in Mexico, Canada, Australia, the U.K. and South Africa have canceled orders for Oveja Negra bags. 

“They are saying ‘Nope, we don’t buy anything from the U.S. anymore,’” Willson says. [Pols emphasis]

These are critically-important points that demonstrate, again, that the economic uncertainty created by Trump’s Tariff War — and the overall distrust it has created with other nations — are problems that are going to persist for awhile. Even if Trump suddenly decided to ditch the Tariff War altogether, the damage he has done to international trade will not be easily undone.

Colorado small businesses such as Oveja Negra are also a stark example of how difficult it is to wave a tariff wand and wish for new manufacturing jobs in the United States:

Now Oveja Negra, which sources 98% of its materials from the U.S. and manufactures everything but metal buckles in Salida, is in a freefall.

“I’m the U.S. manufacturer using U.S.-made materials and Trump is putting me out of business,” she says. “We figured out U.S. manufacturing and we figured out how to take care of our people and it came crashing down. I’m doing everything Trump wants but we are being punished by this tariff bullshit.” [Pols emphasis]

Fabric costs for Oveja Negra have soared 30% in the past three years. Wages have climbed 25%. To return to profitability, Willson says she will need to sell $50 bags for $200.

“But no one will buy that,” she says. “So that’s not happening.”

While Republicans like Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Fort Lupton) are furiously trying to spin the Trump tariffs as a good thing for local businesses, that messaging seems particularly tone deaf given the actual problems on the ground for small business owners. Evans can tell local businesses that Trump’s tariffs will be good in the long term, but even if that turns out to be true, many businesses won’t survive the short term disruptions.

The way the economy is tanking, they won’t be alone.