Are tariffs good or bad for founders?

TL;DR

The video details how Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs (escalating to 104% on China) are devastating e‑commerce businesses, using a friend’s five containers at sea facing a $1 M tariff bill as a case study. The host argues that passing on the full cost is impossible due to demand destruction, and that moving manufacturing back to the US is a multi‑year, likely futile process.

Key insights

• E‑commerce businesses operate on 10–15% profit margins; a 100% COGS increase from tariffs makes survival impossible without raising prices, which is inflationary and kills demand.
• Manufacturing cannot quickly relocate to the US because skilled labor and machinery are lacking, inputs still come from overseas, and the process takes years—by then a new administration may reverse t
• The friend’s scenario: goods ordered four months pre‑tariff are now in transit and subject to 100% tariffs; he cannot pay $1 M and cannot reroute the containers, forcing potential business closure.