LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Whether you're buying knick-knacks, t-shirts or even model airplanes, you'll likely see that prices have gone up. Several local business owners tell me that's because of tariffs.
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“Hard to manage for business that’s true," said Las Vegas Souvenirs & Gift Shop Owner Jimmy Singh.
Singh's shop is located near the Flamingo Road and Koval Lane intersection in the resort corridor. He is feeling the impact of tariffs.
“80% of my products are from China," Singh said. “We have this item at $10 but now it’s at like $13.99.”
From keychains to shot glasses and even magnets, Singh has had to adjust prices routinely on thousands of items because of changing tariffs. He says he bases his prices off of each change.
Singh says roughly every $10 a product costs, the price will increase by $3 to $4 for consumers. He tells me he's seeing prices rise on the wholesale side too.
“They say we’re going up prices, so then I have to go up to," Singh said.
The Trump administration placed tariffs on imported goods from China starting in February. Those tariffs on China continued to rise all the way to 145% after the administration released reciprocal tariffs on most countries.
After a recent deal struck between the U.S. and China, tariffs on imported goods from China will drop to 30% and Chinese tariffs on imported goods from the U.S. to 10%. China's tariff on U.S. imports was at 125% before the deal.
This will be 90-day tariff cut, also referred to as a tariff pause, will go into effect Wednesday.
WATCH | US and China step back from sky-high tariffs, agree to 90-day pause
“That’s 30% too much," Singh said.
“30% is still going to be a headache for us," said Airliners Distributing Inc. Owner & President Elliot Epstein.
Epstein sells and distributes model planes all across the world.
“So if you lined up 200 of these real planes. You would have the actual real airplane size," Epstein said. His company specializes in 1:200 and 1:400 model planes.
Epstein tells me prices have increased for his Gemini Jets significantly since the start of this year.
“We were probably right around $100 for this model," Epstein said.
I asked him what the price will increase to after the 30% tariff is in place.
"We’ll be pushing $135-$150," Epstein said.
Singh and Epstein tell me the price increases have led to a drop in business. Both estimated the loss would be around 25% since tariff-driven price hikes.
The model planes are all made in China, most are then shipped here to their Las Vegas warehouse.
Epstein says about 1% of those planes will stay in Las Vegas at their retail store called 'The Airplane Shop' on Windy Road.
The rest of those planes are sent to more than 100 stores and distributors across North and South America.
Epstein tells me the planes not sent to Las Vegas will be sent to their stores and distributors in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. His planes can also be purchased from his website.
After the tariff spike, both Singh and Epstein say they had to scale back ordering from China.
"We did not get our May shipment, this is the shipment we canceled," Epstein said.
Epstein says he canceled their latest shipment due to the 145% tariff. He tells me he wouldn't be able to afford that steep of a price hike.
Epstein says he has already spent over $88,000 on tariffs alone since the start of this year.
Singh tells me he also adjusted his shipments. He says they have been picking and choosing the products in need, only ordering half the usual products to be shipped from China.
These changes from both businesses are specifically due to the 145% tariff. Both Singh and Epstein tell me they were going to rely on their current inventory if the tariff remained, but now that it's at 30% they will both resume shipments, cautiously.
Epstein says he just hopes the tariffs will drop and stabilize.
“A 10% tariff across the board on everything would solve a lot of problems," Epstein said.
He tells me the on-again off-again tariffs and ever-changing amounts leads to chaos and confusion for his business.