ORLANDO, Fla. — As the Trump administration continues to negotiate with China over trade and tariffs, one of the key objectives of the administration’s economic policy is encouraging more manufacturing in the United States.

Meanwhile, a Central Florida business owner says he’s already dealing with effects from tariffs.

What You Need To Know

  • As the Trump administration continues to negotiate with China over trade and tariffs, one of the key objectives of the administration’s economic policy is encouraging more manufacturing in the United States

  • Mike Cho overseas the printing of t-shirts at his business, Impress Ink in Orlando. Cho says while they don’t produce the actual shirts themselves, they do just about everything else

  • Cho says business remains steady for now, compared to last year this time, but he’s not seeing as many new customers.  He believes economic uncertainty from fluctuating tariffs is to blame

  • The Small Business Administration under President Trump launched the “Make Onshoring Great Again Portal,” a free tool designed to connect American small businesses to U.S. manufacturers and producers. It promises a database with one million American suppliers

Mike Cho oversees the printing of t-shirts at his business, Impress Ink in Orlando.

Cho says while they don’t produce the actual shirts themselves, they do just about everything else.  

“We often finish off the shirt. We print it, we sew it, we can rebrand it,” said Cho, Impress Ink’s owner and operator.

Cho said it’s nearly impossible to not source some sort of material in the manufacturing process from overseas.

“The U.S. actually produces a lot of cotton, but a lot of that cotton gets exported to Central America, gets exported to Asia, and Asia uses labor to finish off production, but then it gets shipped back to us,” he said.

Cho says business remains steady for now, compared to last year this time, but he’s not seeing as many new customers. He believes economic uncertainty from fluctuating tariffs is to blame.

“Uncertainty overall is bad for business. That’s what we’ve realized when it comes to our customers and the people that support us,” said Cho.

Cho said the tariffs on China made jobs already ordered more expensive.

“The reality with these tariffs being imposed very abruptly, it definitely stirs the pot in a way where companies like us have to scramble for options,” he said.

For example, Impress Ink’s order from the city of Orlando for the annual CommUNITY Rainbow Run, which honors the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, includes medals they add rainbow colors to. But the medals themselves are made in China.

That forced Cho to make a tough decision.

“This kind of fell right in between when those tariffs went into effect, so we actually had to pay 145% of the factory costs,” said Cho. “We did tell the city we’d absorb them, which we did, so at the end of the day, we are having a small loss to it. These are the things we’re okay with because we’re happy to sponsor a small part of it.”

They are extra costs Impress Ink can absorb in this case, but not forever. Cho says eventually, he will have to pass off those extra costs to his customers. 

The Small Business Administration under President Trump launched the “Make Onshoring Great Again Portal,” a free tool designed to connect American small businesses to U.S. manufacturers and producers. It promises a database with one million American suppliers. It’s part of SBA’s “Made in America” manufacturing initiative, which launched earlier this year. The plan is designed to take several steps to promote more manufacturing within the United States.