Dana Chadwell founded Chattanooga Yarn Company three years ago. She envisioned "a place to find fine yarns for hand knitting and crochet, and a place to build community around yarn crafting." It's been successful—but her shop is now enveloped in a fog of uncertainty because of Trump's tariffs.
From knitting needles to garment fabric to bottles of paint, American crafters work with many materials produced abroad. That has left them particularly vulnerable to Trump's trade war. Imports from Europe currently face tariffs of 15 percent, and while sky-high tariffs on China are currently subject to a 90-day pause, they still stand at 57.6 percent, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Worse still, Trump has done away with the de minimis exemption, which allowed goods valued at under $800 to enter the U.S. tariff-free.
