As Trump’s tariffs go into effect, immigrant entrepreneurs and other small business owners figure out ways to navigate “America First” policies
This story was published in collaboration with 285 South.
Making 600 dumplings by hand is no easy task, but Candy Hom knows her customers appreciate the process—and the story behind her work.
Six years ago, Hom started selling frozen dumplings to a small customer base in an H Mart parking lot. From there, her pop-up business—which she called Soupbelly—took off, and Hom earned a reputation as Atlanta’s “dumpling lady” by hosting workshops and telling food stories on her blog. As a Chinese American chef, she blends cultures, and some of her fusion creations have earned her recognition: Last year, Eater Atlanta named Soupbelly the best pop-up of 2024, and Hom’s Cantonese fried-chicken sandwich made it into a cookbook celebrating “fearless innovation” in Atlanta cuisine. But each Lunar New Year, Hom returns to tradition and makes dumplings like her grandmother and mother used to make.
Dumplings, with their pouchlike shape, resemble ancient Chinese coins, and their pleats symbolize good fortune. This year, she made them with spinach wrappers, the color of American money, and added extra pleats for extra luck.
But luck won’t shield her from rising costs—or from the fallout of a potential trade war.
Twelve days after taking office, President Trump imposed tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada, despite economists’ warnings that these actions would worsen inflation and provoke retaliation. After a 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports went into effect on February 4, the president promised this was just “an opening salvo”: A month later, he announced 25 percent duties on Mexican and Canadian imports. That’s got many business owners worried about how they’re going to stay afloat.
To prepare, Hom has been researching which of her supplies are domestic and which are imported. Her findings aren’t encouraging: Many of her staples—shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, sichuan peppercorns, Chinese ginger, chives, soy sauce, five-spice powder, star anise, sesame seeds, and sesame oil—come from overseas. And she’s concerned that prices for pork, an integral ingredient to many authentic Chinese dishes, could also increase.
While Georgia’s pork industry is booming, local production isn’t enough to meet demand: The state’s meat business accounts for just half of what consumers want. In 2022, the Peach State imported nearly four times more meat than it exported. Pork shoulders, tenderloins, and bacon available at stores like Costco are often domestically sourced, but global supply chain disruptions would still drive up prices for U.S. sellers and cause inflation—especially since China is the world’s largest pork producer. “If the pork prices go up too much, I would have to just sell the chicken to keep it going,” Hom said.
A few years ago, when the price of chicken skyrocketed, the entrepreneur and mother of two improvised by cutting chicken recipes from the menu and selling more pork. The same thing happened when there was a shortage of certain chili peppers: She limited her menu, and when the chilis became available, she bought cases of them in case there was another shortage.
Cutting her pork products would downsize her menu to just a few dishes, though. “I don’t have a lot of chicken products, and I can’t really substitute a lot of my ingredients, because it affects the authenticity of the product,” she said. “I feel like I would just have less to offer.”
“I can’t really substitute a lot of my ingredients because it affects the authenticity of the product. I feel like I would just have less to offer.” —Candy Hom, owner of Soupbelly
From the colossal container ships floating in and out of the Ports of Savannah and Brunswick to the 11 international lines moving cargo through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, international trade boosts Georgia’s economy and represents 6 percent of the state’s gross domestic product.
An escalating trade war, however, could hit a vital vein in the state’s economy, straining major industries and small businesses alike.
Rising tensions with China, Mexico, and Canada, some of Georgia’s top trade partners, don’t bode well for Georgia. The state’s prosperity relies on international trade: In 2024, Georgia exported $53.1 billion worth of medical equipment, technology, and manufacturing parts to these countries and imported another $145.6 billion worth of products from Mexico, China, South Korea, Germany, and Vietnam. But since Trump’s first 10 percent duty went into effect on February 4, he’s imposed another 25 percent tariff on aluminum and steel and an additional 10 percent duty on Chinese imports to one-up China’s retaliatory 10 and 15 percent tariffs on select U.S. exports. With the President's decision to move forward with 25 percent fees on goods from Canada and Mexico, U.S. tariffs will reach extremes not seen since the 1940s.
Some of Georgia’s top industries, including auto and aviation, equipment manufacturing, and agriculture, will be hit with price hikes and supply chain disruptions—the fallout won’t stop there. Inflation on steel, plastics, electronics, gas, groceries, and other necessities will pinch retailers and small businesses already surviving on tight margins. In a 2023 news release, Governor Brian Kemp said that small businesses account for 87 percent of Georgia’s exports and said that “these record-breaking numbers represent economic opportunity and success in every corner of the state.” Now, those very businesses face uncertainty thanks to tit-for-tat trade policies.
“There’s no way this can be good for the economy,” said Tibor Besedes, an international trade and behavioral economics expert and economics professor at Georgia Tech. Besedes warned these tariffs could have sweeping impacts on consumers and businesses alike. Besedes predicts a ripple effect that could impact all industries: “So there’s sort of a secondary effect in that consumers are going to have lower incomes, and they’re going to consume fewer things, and that’s going to affect the service industry, whether it’s hotels, restaurants, that kind of stuff.”
“There’s no way this can be good for the economy.” —Tibor Besedes, an international trade and behavioral economics expert and economics professor at Georgia Tech
The week before Inauguration Day, I met virtually with Lily Pabian, the executive director of We Love Buford Highway, a nonprofit that has worked to maintain Atlanta’s multicultural identity along Buford Highway since 2015. Since the tariffs had not yet been imposed, our discussion was hypothetical; even so, it was clear to Pabian that tariffs would disproportionately impact immigrant- and minority-owned businesses. “I would say anything that adds stress or influences that in any way is going to hit our small businesses,” Pabian said.
In January, I made dozens of calls and sent emails. I visited Asian markets, walked through aisles in halal markets with food labels written in Bengali and Hindi, and asked to speak to the owners of supermercados and carnicerías, hoping to pose these questions: How would tariffs impact their prices and bottom lines? How would an “America First” trade policy impact Atlanta’s businesses and the international communities they serve? Many were reluctant to speak with me on the record.
“I have to increase the price, but for the customer, I cannot,” said Andrew, the owner of a Korean barbecue restaurant, who agreed to be quoted if he could use a pseudonym.
Andrew moved to Georgia from South Korea eight years ago with the vision of starting a business and raising a family. He opened his business in 2023, and, at first, everything was going well. But as inflation rose, patrons came less frequently, choosing to save money and eat at home. Most of the products he buys are from South Korea. Raising prices won’t help his business, but neither will discontinuing the authentic products that draw in customers. Although Andrew just got engaged and is hoping to raise his kids in Georgia, he’s preparing for the worst. “I opened this restaurant for my future and for my family, but if inflation [gets worse] then I have to file bankruptcy and go back to South Korea,” he said.
“I opened this restaurant for my future and for my family, but if inflation [gets worse] then I have to file bankruptcy and go back to South Korea.”
Economic uncertainty looms over many businesses that are still recovering from five years of supply chain disruptions and post-pandemic inflation, and the president’s ambiguous threats offer little clarity. “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,” Trump wrote on social media.
“Unfortunately, these businesses are at some point going to have to creep up those costs in order for them to be able to sustain, so it is difficult times,” Pabian said. “We’re able to kind of eat the bitterness and be creative. And so I think that our community does have that resiliency.”
Hom says business owners can’t look to the government for help; they must support each other.
In the early days of her business, Hom came to rely on a network of fellow restaurant owners. When she needed business advice, Mia Orino, the co-owner of Kamayan ATL, readily gave it. Anita and Howard Hsu, the owners of Sweet Auburn Barbecue, offered Hom their space and expertise for special events and workshops. And, as some venues hike their fees, Hom has formed mutually beneficial partnerships that have made her dumpling pop-ups possible.
For the Lunar New Year, Hom teamed up with Commune wine bar in Avondale Estates. The event brought in 60 ticketed patrons—and all 600 of her dumplings were gone by the end of the evening. “I go in and do my pop-up, and we’re bringing customers together, and they have their own menu with their wine and food too. So we’re both helping each other,” Hom said. “If more places do that, we can actually survive and get through this.”
“We’re both helping each other. If more places do that, we can actually survive and get through this.” —Candy Hom, owner of Soupbelly
Meanwhile, nonprofits like We Love Buford Highway offer small business resource guides and workshops. Through their oral history project, Pabian and her staff aim to be a voice for a community that has “traditionally kept [its] mouth shut to just make a living, and kind of, you know, stay on the DL.” They also serve as liaisons, connecting small business owners to community partners, and spearhead a number of other projects to create “a pillar of care” for families along BuHi.
“Immigrants know how to create a community very quickly,” Pabian said. “Because they have to, right?” •