At the start of President Donald Trumps second term in January, his administration quickly followed through on his promise to increase tariffs on U.S. trading partners. It began in February with a 10% tariff increase on all Chinese imports and a 25% increase on steel and aluminum products. Since then, tariffs have been escalating between China and the U.S. with the highest reaching a 145% tariff for Chinese imports.On May 14, a 90-day pause on tariffs is expected to take place, with both China and the U.S. reducing their reciprocal tariffs to 10%. It is unclear whether this pause will last after the 90 days expire. For many U.S. businesses, the damage from the initial rise in tariffs has had a profound effect, especially for those in retail and apparel.Queer-owned businesses have begun speaking out about the effect of the tariffs and what they are doing to combat rising costs, or at least how to bring consumers attention to them.TomboyX adds a Tariff Surcharge to impacted productsTomboyX, a queer-owned apparel brand, shared a statement from CEO Leslie Garrand about the tariffs on its social media channels.If youre uneasy about the whole Tr*mp situationyeah, same.These are unpredictable times, and we want to be real with you. Trumps wild-@ss tariffs are creating serious challenges for small businesses like oursand starting this May, we now face sky-high tariff costs.The good news:Many of our products (like swim!) are less affected. So go ahead, shop away.The not-so-good news:Products we sustainably produce in China are now hit with tariff rates of + 145%. To help offset just a portion of this cost increase, were introducing a temporary Tr*mp Tariff Surcharge on those items starting May 1. Youll see a clear note on the product page and in your cart. (The amount varies by item, and well remove the charge as soon as we can.)Thank you for sticking with us and supporting a small business doing its best to responsibly weather the chaos. Built to endure. Leslie Garrard CEOSince then, items on the TomboyX website that are affected by tariffs now feature a note in red that says Tr*mp Tariff Surcharge. The additional fees range from around $1 up to $7.Screenshot taken of TomboyXs Tr*mp Tariff Surcharge. A representative from TomboyX was not immediately available for comment.Wildfang speaks out on CBSQueer and female founded apparel company Wildfang based in Portland, Oregon has also spoken out publicly about tariffs. Wildfang CEO Emma McIlroy was interviewed on CBS Mornings on April 9 about tariffs, which heavily impact the company. When asked how the steep rise in tariffs would impact her company, McIlroy shared an example.We had our summer orderso we make apparel, we make fashionarrived on Monday this week. If that order had arrived today, it would have cost us $178,000 more to receive it. I dont have that money.When asked if those increases could be passed on to customers, McIllory said, I do think youre going to see businesses have to pass this on to consumers. If you were trying to maintain the same structure you have right now, it would mean an 83% increase in consumer prices. I dont think youll see that full price increase, but thats how aggressive this would be for consumers.However, McIlroy shared that Wildfang is doing everything they can to mitigate the rising costs.So, as a small business, were going to try everything in our power not to pass that along, said McIlroy. Thats going to include working with our factory partners, looking at new factories and locations to manufacture, and thats going to include cutting our own costs. Every business will try to do that. But as a small business, there arent that many places to cut. I think a last resort is going to increase prices.After speaking out publicly about how Trumps tariffs could affect Wildfang, McIlroy says the response from the community and customers has been overwhelmingly supportive.Weve had tons of lovely messages of support from our community, McIlroy told News is Out. Weve also had lots of notes from other business owners sharing their frustrations and fears and thanking us for speaking up and raising awareness about the topic. In terms of next steps, McIlroy says Wildfang is working with factories to fast-track orders during the 90-day tariff pause. Additionally were working with our factories to sample in Vietnam and Indonesia to diversify our manufacturing base, she said.Gay Pride Apparel watches and waitsFor Gay Pride Apparel owners Sergio Aragon and Jesus Gutierrez, the rise in tariffs hasnt hit the business directly, yet much remains to be seen. Gay Pride Apparel does much of its business with American printers, but tariffs could affect them in other ways.There is a lot of uncertainty for us about whether theyll raise their prices because theyre being hit with tariffs, said Gutierrez in a Zoom interview with News is Out. And its also very timely for us, because obviously, its about to hit Pride. So were trying to figure out: will our production partner raise our prices? Does that mean that we have to raise our prices on our end?Sergio Aragon and Jesus Gutierrez, owners of Gay Pride Apparel. Photo: Courtesy of Gay Pride Apparel Its not just tariffs giving Gutierrez and Aragon pause, its also a challenging economy.We know the economy is a little bit rough right now to begin with, said Gutierrez. Our pricing is already pretty high compared to a normal T-shirt. So were trying to juggle it all. And I think its all been so volatilejust changing every daythat it hasnt really hit us in one way or another. Its almost kind of still up in the air for us.Gay Pride Apparels partners have been working with the company to keep shipping costs down and keep lines of communication open.But the good thing is, our business partners and our suppliers have been really transparent with us and working with us, said Aragon. There are different workarounds theyre doing to help us avoid it.When asked their thoughts on TomboyXs approach of including a clear note about tariffs, Gutierrez applauded the companys transparency.I love it, said Gutierrez. I mean, as you mentioned earlier, were very transparent with our customers, and I think its because its just us two. We have a two-way conversation with our customer and our community. So seeing TomboyX do that was really fun and felt like something we would do. We actually saw it and were like, Oh, should we consider doing something? But we dont know how its going to affect us yet.Gutierrez and Aragon are considering what to do next and if tariffs really begin to negatively impact the company. While some companies are looking at having to pass on increases, Gay Pride Apparel is also looking at an alternative.But as people are raising their prices and responding to this, we were talking about maybe lowering our prices and making less money per sale per product, but becoming more accessible, said Gutierrez. Because truthfully, were struggling. Everyone struggles. How do we meet our customers where theyre at?On a positive note as a queer-owned business, Gay Pride Apparel is seeing an increase in consumers supporting the company as an alternative to those that have changed their stances on support for Pride, diversity and inclusion, like Target and Walmart.Theyll straight up call it out, said Gutierrez. On Threads specifically, well get tagged randomly in posts that are like, whether its a boycott post or its a Pride-related kind of tag your favorite queer business. And then people are like, Oh, I only shop at Gay Pride Apparel now because the rest of them are abandoning us, or I only stick to companies who are here all year, such as Gay Pride Apparel. Theyll even say, Im trying to support, even if its 20% more, 30% more, to buy the shirtIll support Gay Pride Apparel over XYZ.GRRRL Spells faces steep costs and hard choicesWhile not U.S.-based business, Canadian company GRRRL Spells does a lot of business with consumers in the U.S. Last year, GRRRL Spells made headlines as one of the queer/trans-owned businesses when their partnership with Target was drastically reduced and their labels were removed from remaining products.Creator and designer of GRRRL Spells, En Tze Loh, shared their experience as a Canadian brand.Even though were a Canadian business, the majority of our online customers are from the states, said Loh. The de minimis exemption allowing orders under $800 to enter the US tariff-free was removed specifically for products manufactured in China, now subjecting them to an absurdly high tariff fee regardless of where its shipped from. We design all of our own products but get them manufactured both locally and abroad including China, and unfortunately many of our products will now be subject to those tariffs when delivered to U.S. customers.GRRRL Spells owner En Tze Loh. Photo: Courtesy En Tze LohAs a result, GRRRL Spells has pulled back on shipping certain products to the U.S.We have decided to stop shipping any of our items that were manufactured in China to the US as we dont believe anyone should have to pay these extreme fees, which drastically decreases our sales. Enamel pins, which are our most popular product, do not have any North American manufacturers at all and they are mostly produced in China, so sadly there isnt an alternative.During a time which should see the companys biggest spikes, GRRRL Spells is preparing for a slower season.We are definitely anticipating a much quieter Pride month and year due to the tariffs and decline of the economy in general as weve already been feeling the effects of it since the year began. Were trying our best to adapt to the changes and find alternatives in order to keep going but it has been challenging.Looking ahead with resilience and gratitudeLoh also wants consumers and LGBTQ+ people to know how grateful they are for their support. We would like to send so much love and strength to every queer and trans person during these wild times and thank you so much to everyone who has supported us throughout all these years, said Loh. We need the support of each other more than ever right now. While we may not be able to ship many of our current goods to the US at the moment, were working on a new collection for Pride with items that we will be able to ship tariff-free, so please stay tuned!The post Tariffs hit hard, but queer-owned brands push back with transparency and community appeared first on News Is Out.