From hair extensions to appliances, SoCal inventory beginning to dwindle amid trade wars

After President Trump’s trade wars led to a plummet in shipping volume at the Port of Los Angeles last month,  business owners in Southern California said Friday they started to see the impact.

Store inventory will begin to dwindle in the next several weeks, forcing some businesses to raise prices, according to economists. 

A price increase of 10% to 20% may be inevitable even though many local businesses, ranging from appliance stores to beauty supply shops, have stockpiled ahead of what’s to come.

“For example, it would have been $50 at my cost. Now it’s going to cost me $125," Teresa Lee, manager at Tina’s Beauty Salon in Santa Ana said, adding some of the most popular hair extensions are already out of stock.

Beauty supply vendors, according to Lee, get most of their hair products from China.

“We normally sell a decent amount of clip-ins. It's pretty popular for people here,” Lee explained. “Unfortunately all the basic colors, black and brown, they’re not able to get because prices are so high for them.”

Johnnie’s Appliances in Downey said Friday while the impact wasn’t felt as of Friday, conditions will change in the coming weeks as a lot of the parts the business uses come from overseas. 

“(The tariffs) do not benefit us at all,” Guisselle Gramajo, sales manager at the appliance store, said.  

Food businesses also braced for the trickled-down impacts with many ingredients and produce being imported.

“A lot of our suppliers in anticipation of the increase have also brought in more merchandise,” said Rosemarie Lippman, owner of Claro’s Italian Market, which is getting ready to open its seventh family-owned store in a few weeks.

Lippman said she will try to avoid passing on fees to her customers as long as she can.

“We're going to try and hold the line as long as we can because we want to still remain competitive,” she said while trying to stay optimistic and hoping the tariffs are a temporary setback before the holidays. “But eventually if we are forced to raise, we will wind up raising a little bit. 

Putting more pressure on average consumers, President Trump signed an executive order last month, no longer allowing items worth $800 or less to enter the U.S. duty free. The loophole expired Friday at 12:01 a.m. EDT.