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  • 5/15/2025
During Wednesday’s Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee hearing, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) spoke about the impact of President Trump’s tariffs.

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00:00And with that, I now recognize Ranking Member Markey for his opening statement.
00:04I thank you, Madam Chair, so much.
00:07And we're here to talk about small business manufacturers,
00:11which contribute to our local economies and provide well-paying jobs for American workers.
00:19But we must address the elephant in the room when it comes to American manufacturing,
00:25Trump's disastrous, destructive, small business-killing tariffs.
00:30The Boston Globe on Friday, just five days ago.
00:35The headline is Massachusetts Port Authority.
00:37That's the entry point for New England.
00:40They expect shipping volume in June to decrease by 35% compared to last year.
00:50That's in June.
00:52And we do know this.
00:53You know, when there's a 35% decline in those containers coming in, that's the trade.
01:01That's what helps manufacturers.
01:03There's about 40,000 small manufacturers who are hit by tariffs at both ends,
01:10as importers and as American producers, who are going to be affected by this.
01:17And they're the most vulnerable.
01:18Those aren't the big companies.
01:19Those are the little companies.
01:20They just live month to month.
01:22And so that's a very dangerous development.
01:26We can't afford to have a one-third reduction in New England of the containers coming in.
01:30That is trade.
01:31And the biggest issue for small businesses, whether they are manufacturers or clothing shops or restaurants or hardware stores,
01:39is the uncertainty caused by Trump's rollercoaster tariff policy.
01:43Over the past month, the mood on Main Street has soured.
01:47Small business owners planning to hire new employees has fallen to a four-year low,
01:52as sales decline and the future remains uncertain.
01:55And unlike large corporations, small businesses cannot absorb tariff costs and ride out the storm.
02:01Even as the vast majority of small businesses are seeing massive tariff-induced cost hikes,
02:07this administration is offering exemptions for billion-dollar corporations.
02:11If you can get a dinner invitation to Mar-a-Lago, like the heads of Apple and Google,
02:16you can secure an exemption for your industry.
02:18But no small businesses receive support from this administration on how to navigate these constant policy changes.
02:27And meanwhile, these tariffs are destroying the small manufacturing growth we saw during the Biden administration.
02:33In fact, the Biden Small Business Administration made more than $10 billion in loans to small manufacturing,
02:40contributing to 775,000 new manufacturing jobs.
02:45President Trump likes to play the hero, but in his first term, his SBA made $2 billion less in small manufacturing loans
02:54than the Biden administration, and they lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs.
02:59And now, in his second term, he is hitting small manufacturers where it hurts.
03:07The cost of building a factory is skyrocketing because of the tariffs.
03:11The Trump tariffs are not a recipe for a manufacturing boom.
03:16They are a recipe for manufacturing doom.
03:19My witness today, who makes guitar pedals in Akron, Ohio, did not have the opportunity to dine with the president at Mar-a-Lago.
03:28Now, she is unsure if her small manufacturing business will survive the uncertainty and crushing cost increases unleashed
03:36when the president began his trade war on Main Street, turning Main Street into Payne Street.
03:43They are the ones who are feeling this most adversely.
03:45President Trump has kneecapped small businesses that build high-quality products here in the United States
03:51because of his naive and misguided vision of how supply chains work.
03:56With very few exceptions, American companies that build here must rely, at least to some extent, on components made elsewhere.
04:05We can't have 35 percent fewer containers coming into America, into the port of Boston, of New England.
04:12This includes the 40,000 small manufacturers who are being crushed by tariffs at both ends,
04:18as importers buying parts and as exporters facing retaliatory tariffs.
04:23So, I've heard from small businesses in Massachusetts.
04:26There's a paranoia which has set in.
04:29And I've heard from all across America about the impacts of these tariffs.
04:34Last week, I spoke with Brandel Randolph, founder of 1854 Cycling Company,
04:41an electric bike manufacturer based in Massachusetts.
04:45Brandel shared with me that his company finally recovered from the $45 million which they lost during COVID,
04:51only to now be forced to decide whether or not they can weather this new disaster.
04:57The message from 1854 and other small businesses across the country is clear.
05:03These tariffs are going to put them out of business.
05:05And that's why, last week, I introduced the Small Business Liberation Act
05:09to exempt small businesses from the Trump tariffs.
05:13Just exempt them.
05:13Small business owners are our neighbors, our friends, our family.
05:18We must provide the necessary relief so that they can operate and grow and succeed.
05:24They're not Democrat or Republican businesses.
05:26They're not blue or red small businesses.
05:28This should not be a partisan issue.
05:30The National Chamber of Commerce has said that we should exempt small businesses.
05:36I'm with the National Chamber of Commerce.
05:39They're speaking for every Chamber of Commerce all across the country,
05:42exempt small businesses from the tariffs.
05:46I've introduced the legislation.
05:48We should try to find a way to expedite its passage on the floor of the Senate.
05:53I thank you, Madam Chair.

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