For some, tariffs are a buzzword from the Trump Administration. But for Gabe Hagen, anxiety about costs and taxes brews stronger by the day.
The owner and founder of Brick Road Coffee in Tempe, now with a location in Mesa, is part of the Small Business Owners Against Tariffs, a national campaign that has spent $3 million showcasing the realities of how small businesses have been impacted by tariffs across the country to raise awareness about costs and how it could impact the daily life of all Americans.
“Anytime you have this much uncertainty, it changes how you make decisions in business and forecast costs for the future,” Hagen said.
Several small businesses across the country have joined together to raise awareness to share their stories of survival, loss and what tariffs could mean for the small businesses in the nation for decades to come.
The organization raised over $5 million from individual donors to support this cause and aims to spread awareness of how tariffs impact consumers in all industries.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people have bought into the false rhetoric about tariffs being 'paid by other companies' and being 'paid to Americans." We’re correcting the record,” Tony Franquiz, a spokesperson from Small Businesses Against Tariffs, said via email.
In January 2025, at the beginning of his second term, President Trump announced tariffs ranging from 10% to over 90% on countries spanning all seven continents — even the remote islands surrounding Antarctica.
Tariffs have proven to hit food items and especially coffee and alcohol.
The Tax Foundation, a bipartisan research organization, analyzed several foods and countries from around the world and how the first year of the Trump Administration has impacted imports through tariffs.
Brazilian coffee has been hit especially hard as the country faces almost $3 billion in tariffs to the United States.
Brick Road Coffee, not only a café but also a coffee roaster, has relied on coffee beans from Brazil, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Sumatra and more, with blends and roasts being used in their stores and sold to the public.
In 2025, Hagen opened a second location in Mesa, originally called Empower Coffee, that now goes by Brick Road Coffee. Hagen said he had to hire fewer people to work the shop and had to be conscious about what each location was purchasing from cups and lids to syrups and even retail products.
He said that after ordering $1,200 in retail and merchandise from another small business in Canada, the UPS delivery included an invoice for an extra $400 in shipping and taxes for the goods shipped from Canada.
“The more these small businesses can share that this doesn’t just impact us but it impacts the whole community, that’s when people see the reality of what’s happening,” he said.
Hagen says that now is more important than ever to support small businesses
Madeline Bates joined Independent Newsmedia in 2025 as a Phoenix/Tempe reporter. Before graduating college, she spent a semester in Washington as a Congressional reporter in the first 100 days of the second Trump administration. But local news is where her heart is. She is excited to be in Phoenix full time and exploring new parts of the city (as long as they have AC).
Community: After living in East Phoenix for two years, she fell in love with Paradise Valley, Mesa, Tempe, and everywhere in between. She recently discovered the beauty of the South Mountain Reserve and hopes to continue exploring should the weather comply.
Education: Madeline has a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and a certificate in Political History and Leadership.
Random Fact: She is a self-taught nail tech. No, she cannot do your nails.
Hobbies: Hiking (when its not 100 degrees), fiction writing, cooking, baking and trying new coffee shops.
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