San Diego businesses adapt to uncertain import prices as tariffs kick in, again

Nicholas Tran’s father opened the first Vien Dong supermarket in 1981 when he saw a demand from immigrant communities in San Diego looking for a taste of home.

“The closest thing you can have for connection is food,” Tran said. “It doesn’t have to be the same brand, and that’s key, but you gotta have it. But if you can get the same brand as in their own country, that makes it even more special.”

The past six months of chaotic import prices caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs have made running a business that maintains that connection challenging. 

As the world waits to see whether Trump’s announced new trade deal with China resolves an ongoing trade war, an appeals court ruled this week that previously announced tariffs on most U.S trading partners can be enforced while the courts deliberate their legality. 

The two developments represent yet another challenge for San Diego businesses that have been trying to adapt in the face of months of economic uncertainty.

“We spend hours every day on how are we gonna play this? How are we gonna play that? Because it’s tough enough, in the supermarket industry your margins are low,” said Tran, now co-owner of Vien Dong and World Foods Supermarket. Expanded and in a different location, the stores remain family-owned supermarkets in San Diego’s Colina del Sol neighborhood selling imported grocery products from around the world, especially from Southeast Asia and China.

Trump has been in a trade war with China and other countries since starting his second term, but on Wednesday he said a deal was “done” with China after trade talks in London earlier this week.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump said the deal includes a 55% tariff on Chinese goods entering the U.S. and a 10% tariff on U.S. imports in China. The 55% tariff on Chinese goods includes 25% from Trump’s first term and a 10% tariff put on most U.S trading partners. The remainder is for China not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., according to an executive order.

What are tariffs?

Tariffs are a type of tax imposed on goods imported from abroad that leads to increased costs for businesses selling imported goods and eventually higher prices for consumers.

The deal also would end China’s prohibition on sending rare earth minerals to the U.S. where they’re essential in the production of many products, from computer and cell phone parts to jet engines and wind turbines. In exchange, the U.S. has agreed to allow Chinese students to attend U.S. universities.

Trump and China President Xi Jinping have ultimate approval. If finalized, it could bring stability to what has been a tumultuous several months of moving tariffs, which lead to uncertainty and risk for businesses. 

“We are encouraged by recent positive steps toward a collaborative and stable U.S.-China economic relationship concerning tariff negotiations, which is essential for economic growth,” a San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce spokesperson told inewsource in an email.

“Raw materials utilized by local manufacturers and supply chains cannot be replaced overnight, and sudden shifts could result in significant cost increases and disruptions for regional businesses. An extended transition period would provide much-needed time for adaptation and help safeguard local economic stability.”

Tran said that when the tariffs first hit in April, customers rushed to stock up on imported products at his stores that reminded him of the COVID-era toilet paper frenzy, but things have since returned to normal. Some Chinese products like Lee Kum Kee Oyster sauce and Viet Huong fish sauce he can sell for now at increased prices due to their iconic flavors, but he has been seeking to substitute Chinese products where he can.

“China’s not the only country that has bamboo shoots. You can get it from Thailand, you can get it from Vietnam, you can get it from other countries,” Tran said. “My vendors that I’m buying from, they all sell to the American stores also. And so they have been moving the processing to India, Bangladesh and other countries. They have seen the writing on the wall.”

Tran expects tariffs on Chinese products to stick around and wonders at what point sustained high costs will cause consumer taste to drift to other similar brands for the products he keeps stocked from China. Most of his vendors from other countries have kept price increases to around 10%, despite high tariffs on some countries like Vietnam, currently at 46%. He expects tariffs to settle down to 10% as countries come to the table to negotiate.

Reilly Stephens, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, the Texas firm behind a lawsuit against the Trump administration that resulted in the pause on the reciprocal tariffs announced in April, also expressed confidence they wouldn’t last.

The firm sued on behalf of five small businesses arguing that the president doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs — the Constitution gives that power to Congress. Trump used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose the tariffs.

Another group of state attorney generals also sued, arguing that a separate set of tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China were unlawful using a similar argument. In May, the U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously ruled in a single opinion on both cases that the tariffs were unlawful and stopped them from being enforced. 

The Trump administration is appealing. A federal appeals court has allowed the tariffs to be enforced again while the cases are litigated.

“It’s not just the amount of the tariffs or the countries they’re on or the policy wisdom of the tariffs, but it’s the fact the tariffs can literally change any day and have changed randomly from day to day,” Stephens said. “The bigger thing is just not knowing, like you can’t plan, we’re talking about goods that you’re importing. Those have to get on a container and come across the water, and that takes time.”

He said the court will likely rule in August and that regardless of the outcome, he expects the losing party to appeal. 

“The president’s claiming the authority to put whatever tariff he wants on whatever country he wants on whatever goods he wants at whatever rate he wants, at his personal whim and caprice,” he said. “The point of America is that no man should have that power.”