MyManao - been flabbergasted by the implications, to Hawaii, to every one of us, of an article that focuses on international shipping and points out with stark facts just how bad it's about to get. That article basically says shipping between China and the US is collapsing now.. over the next few weeks.. Like really, what is the effect of empty shelves in Hilo?
Going to depend on which shelves are empty of course, but if tariffs continue/unpause, supply chains will break similar to sharp downturns during the worst of COVID it seems. Probably a bit late to build the ark (best to prepare before the flood) but basically a large number of things are going to get more expensive, and less available, and therefore yet more expensive, etc... Signs of the impacts are just starting to be felt locally.
Consumers in Hawaii prepare for tariffs’ impact (my highlights)
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/04/2...fs-impact/
...
Stephen, 65, regularly buys the condiment [fish sauce] and will continue to do so even though her eyes have bulged in recent weeks as she’s seen the price rise to $9.99 from $5.99 at her usual Asian grocery store in Chinatown.
Outside of Chinatown, Stephen said she’s seen fish sauce cost $11.99.
...
The jaw-dropping prices are bound to increase even more for Hawaii consumers if President Donald Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese goods and 10% tariff on nearly all foreign imports continue.
While businesses have already been hit hard by the international trade war, the impact has only just begun to trickle down to local customers and visitors, who will ultimately have to pay more to keep the businesses alive, according to Justin Tyndall, an associate professor at University of Hawaii’s Economic Research Organization.
Right now, he said, it’s hard to quantify the exact toll that the tariffs will take on Hawaii’s consumers as many businesses are still squeezing inventory that was purchased and shipped before the levies went into effect.
...
Trump’s tariffs have made customers hesitant to purchase investment goods like furniture and cars. The Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association said Hawaii auto sales have been down 1.3% since January.
Chamber of Commerce Hawaii President and CEO Sherry Menor-McNamara said businesses have told her that customers are already stocking up or limiting their spending on more essential goods.
...
But trickle-down costs might hit Hawaii consumers harder because even locally produced goods depend on foreign manufacturing, and the state does not have the bandwidth to support mega-factories found in parts of the mainland.
...
With goods directly imported from China, Vietnam and some Southeast Asian countries, Maunakea Marketplace is a staple of Honolulu’s Chinatown. The food court and merchant courtyard is a pit stop for many locals and tourists passing through, including mom and dad Holly and Chris Durham and daughter Lydia Durham, 16, who came to Hawaii on a family vacation from South Carolina.
...
Still, visitors from the mainland are affected by the rising costs just as much as their isle counterparts, which could cause some to limit how much they are willing to spend while on vacation.
...
Hawaii businesses say they are noticing similar shifts in consumer behavior. According to a recent survey by the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, 40% of local businesses reported a drop in “customer demand or purchasing behavior.”
...
Bargaining is a common practice in Chinatown, but Stephen is striking fewer deals. In today’s economy, she said, cutting prices isn’t sustainable for business.
...
While bargaining for lower prices is a tradition for some, more customers these days might find it a necessity. Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, said in a statement that consumer sentiment was down 11% since March and 30% since December.
...
Sam Hasan, Honolulu’s Elite Discount Furniture store manager, said, “We’ve seen at least 20% (of customer flow) go down. That’s at least as of right now, without raising prices up. Imagine when the prices go up higher.”
Elite Discount Furniture, which also has locations in Aiea and Kaneohe, has not increased its prices yet, but Hasan said that already, fewer people have been buying home products overall.
...
In the meantime Waipahu’s ABC Furniture owner Ronald Chong is taking matters into his own hands by gradually increasing prices by 10%.
He nearly had to shut down after the first Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports in 2018.
(more at link)
Going to depend on which shelves are empty of course, but if tariffs continue/unpause, supply chains will break similar to sharp downturns during the worst of COVID it seems. Probably a bit late to build the ark (best to prepare before the flood) but basically a large number of things are going to get more expensive, and less available, and therefore yet more expensive, etc... Signs of the impacts are just starting to be felt locally.
Consumers in Hawaii prepare for tariffs’ impact (my highlights)
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/04/2...fs-impact/
...
Stephen, 65, regularly buys the condiment [fish sauce] and will continue to do so even though her eyes have bulged in recent weeks as she’s seen the price rise to $9.99 from $5.99 at her usual Asian grocery store in Chinatown.
Outside of Chinatown, Stephen said she’s seen fish sauce cost $11.99.
...
The jaw-dropping prices are bound to increase even more for Hawaii consumers if President Donald Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese goods and 10% tariff on nearly all foreign imports continue.
While businesses have already been hit hard by the international trade war, the impact has only just begun to trickle down to local customers and visitors, who will ultimately have to pay more to keep the businesses alive, according to Justin Tyndall, an associate professor at University of Hawaii’s Economic Research Organization.
Right now, he said, it’s hard to quantify the exact toll that the tariffs will take on Hawaii’s consumers as many businesses are still squeezing inventory that was purchased and shipped before the levies went into effect.
...
Trump’s tariffs have made customers hesitant to purchase investment goods like furniture and cars. The Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association said Hawaii auto sales have been down 1.3% since January.
Chamber of Commerce Hawaii President and CEO Sherry Menor-McNamara said businesses have told her that customers are already stocking up or limiting their spending on more essential goods.
...
But trickle-down costs might hit Hawaii consumers harder because even locally produced goods depend on foreign manufacturing, and the state does not have the bandwidth to support mega-factories found in parts of the mainland.
...
With goods directly imported from China, Vietnam and some Southeast Asian countries, Maunakea Marketplace is a staple of Honolulu’s Chinatown. The food court and merchant courtyard is a pit stop for many locals and tourists passing through, including mom and dad Holly and Chris Durham and daughter Lydia Durham, 16, who came to Hawaii on a family vacation from South Carolina.
...
Still, visitors from the mainland are affected by the rising costs just as much as their isle counterparts, which could cause some to limit how much they are willing to spend while on vacation.
...
Hawaii businesses say they are noticing similar shifts in consumer behavior. According to a recent survey by the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, 40% of local businesses reported a drop in “customer demand or purchasing behavior.”
...
Bargaining is a common practice in Chinatown, but Stephen is striking fewer deals. In today’s economy, she said, cutting prices isn’t sustainable for business.
...
While bargaining for lower prices is a tradition for some, more customers these days might find it a necessity. Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, said in a statement that consumer sentiment was down 11% since March and 30% since December.
...
Sam Hasan, Honolulu’s Elite Discount Furniture store manager, said, “We’ve seen at least 20% (of customer flow) go down. That’s at least as of right now, without raising prices up. Imagine when the prices go up higher.”
Elite Discount Furniture, which also has locations in Aiea and Kaneohe, has not increased its prices yet, but Hasan said that already, fewer people have been buying home products overall.
...
In the meantime Waipahu’s ABC Furniture owner Ronald Chong is taking matters into his own hands by gradually increasing prices by 10%.
He nearly had to shut down after the first Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports in 2018.
(more at link)