News / small-business
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1 min read
Trump's Tariffs Killed More Small Business Jobs Than COVID Did
Read more . . . →The math is in. The smallest American businesses — fewer than 10 employees — lost 4.5 times more jobs in 2025 than they did during the entire pandemic year of 2020. No lockdowns. No virus. Just Trump’s tariffs running for 13 straight months. 292,000 jobs gone from businesses that can’t offshore, can’t lobby, can’t absorb a 145% cost shock and survive it. The Joint Economic Committee broke it down by sector. Leisure and hospitality — restaurants, hotels — down 48,000 jobs and 15% of revenue. Small manufacturers down 38,000 jobs and 11% of revenue. These aren’t abstract numbers. These are...
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1 min read
The Tariff Refund That Isn't Coming
Read more . . . →The Supreme Court killed most of Trump’s tariffs. The government owed $166 billion in refunds. They built a portal and said everyone would get their money back. Two-thirds of eligible importers couldn’t log in when it launched. Small businesses spent hours on hold with Customs and got no answer. Trade experts are now telling anyone who’ll listen that the government will probably just keep tens of billions it’s legally required to return — not out of malice, just attrition. The application process is complex enough that most small claims will time out or get buried, and nobody’s going to prison...
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1 min read
Happy Small Business Week
Read more . . . →During National Small Business Week, the people in charge want you to think about the heroic small business owner grinding away at their dream. What they don’t want you to think about is the Joint Economic Committee data they dropped at the same time: small businesses with fewer than 10 employees have been shedding jobs for 13 straight months, and the losses in 2025 were 4.5 times worse than during the actual pandemic. Not a little worse. Four and a half times worse. The tariffs that were supposed to save American business are eating the businesses they were supposed to...
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