Tariff bills for mid-sized businesses nearly tripled since early 2025

The JPMorgan Chase Institute recently dug into its data on mid-sized businesses — which it defines as having 50-499 workers or $10 million to $1 billion in revenue — and found that those companies’ tariff payments nearly tripled starting early last year.

Mid-sized businesses are often regional business anchors, per Chi Mac, business research director at JPMorgan Chase Institute.

And with their tariff payments tripling in the last year, “they can only absorb it — if they have been absorbing it — for so long,” she said. “This is going to come out in, you know, potentially lower profit margins. They may be looking to pass on the cost to their customers.”

These businesses often don’t have the same flexibility as larger firms to switch up their supply chains, said Oded Shenkar, who teaches management and human resources at The Ohio State University.

“Smaller players typically have less wiggle room because they have less alternative. They often serve a league — single market. They sometimes have a single or a very limited range of product,” he said. And that holds true for even smaller businesses.

Julie Robbins is CEO of Earthquaker Devices in Akron, Ohio, which manufactures guitar effects pedals. It’s already paid almost $80,000 in new tariffs since the spring.

“We've developed the supply chain over 20 years, and just because the administration thinks we should be doing something differently, the reality doesn't exist,” she said.

Robbins expects that this year, that tariff bill will creep close to $200,000. She’s already had to raise prices once and anticipates another price hike coming soon.