Los Angeles — Bobby Djavaheri is trying to replenish his warehouse with equipment from abroad while he can still afford it.
“We have been preparing for the past six months – both our factories and us as importers – for Trump’s victory,” Djavaheri told CBS News.
Djavaheri is president of Los Angeles-based Yedi Houseware Appliances, which manufactures its products in China. He says that about newly elected President Donald Trump threat to increase rates will force him to ask for more.
His company’s Yedi Evolution air fryer currently costs $130, Djavaheri said. He estimates that Trump’s proposed tariffs would raise that price to about $200. Yedi’s two-quarter air fryer currently costs between $30 and $40. Trump’s tariffs could increase that to almost $100.
Trump campaigned on the introduction of a blanket tariff of 10% to 20% on all imports, along with another 60% or more on goods from China.
“It would decimate our business, but not just our business,” Djavaheri said. “It would decimate all the small businesses that rely on imports.”
Djavaheri says it is not the Chinese companies that pay the tariffs, but that it is his own business.
“We get the bill, the bill comes to us directly from the government,” Djavaheri said.
Brian Peck, an adjunct assistant professor of international trade law at USC, says Trump’s tariffs could also be a negotiating tactic.
“If he doesn’t like a particular practice or policy initiative, he can use it as leverage to threaten them,” Peck said. “…It is important for the American people to understand that the people paying tariffs are American importers. Not China, not foreign governments, not foreign companies. That comes down to your wallet.”
An August study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found that Trump’s proposed tariffs could cost middle-income households more than $2,600 a year.
In 2018, when Trump reduced rates on imported washing machines, prices rose by almost $100. But foreign appliance manufacturers also moved some production to the US, and a year later they had created 1,800 new jobs.
However, other countries retaliated with tariffs on U.S. exports, leading to job losses.
According to Djavaheri, most of Yedi’s products cannot currently be manufactured in the US
“There is no factory in America,” Djavaheri said. “A factory that could potentially produce hundreds of thousands of air fryers in one year, with the same quality, nowhere else in the world than in China.”
Djavaheri’s advice? If you are considering a purchase, do so before the potential tariffs come into effect.
Carter Evans
