by Jeroslyn JoVonn
August 26, 2025
Trump’s tariffs are taking a heavy toll on Black-owned magnificence salons that depend on Chinese language-made hair merchandise.
Donald Trump’s tariffs are placing added pressure on small companies, with Black magnificence salons hit particularly laborious by the rising value of Chinese language-made hair extensions.
The price of hair extensions and glues for wigs and weaves has surged following Trump’s tariffs on China and Vietnam, the place most Black magnificence merchandise are manufactured, Reuters studies. The worth hikes are straining Black-owned salons, which report a decline in repeat consumer visits.
“We’re being impacted at each stage,” stated Dajiah Blackshear-Calloway, 34, a salon proprietor based mostly in Smyrna, Georgia. “I’m both having to eat that value or move that expense alongside to my purchasers, which impacts their budgets and their pockets as effectively.”
Blackshear-Calloway’s salon, staffed by two stylists, provides a spread of companies from $50 pure hairstyles to $745 tape-in weave extensions. Her hottest companies embrace $254 sew-in weaves and $125 fast weaves, the place extensions are glued onto a stocking cap.
Nonetheless, tariffs have pushed up the price of a bundle of hair imported from Vietnam from $190 in Might to $290, whereas a bottle of hair glue from China jumped from $8 to $14.99 at her native provide retailer. To keep away from passing these prices on to purchasers, Blackshear-Calloway now asks them to convey their very own hair, making a fast weave $140 with out hair, in comparison with $400 with hair supplied.
Diann Valentine, 55, founding father of Slayyy Hair, first felt the influence of tariffs when a 145% levy on Chinese language imports hit, leading to a $300,000 invoice to clear 26,000 items of braiding hair on the Los Angeles port in Might. Since then, she has raised the costs of her braiding hair and drawstring ponytail extensions by 20%. Valentine was additionally pressured to put off 4 staff and now works 16-hour days to maintain her two Glow+Movement magnificence provide shops in Inglewood and Hawthorne, California, operating easily.
“To lose that type of cash at this stage has been devastating,” Valentine stated.
Tariffs are hitting Black enterprise homeowners significantly laborious, together with many salon homeowners. Andre Perry, a senior fellow on the Brookings Establishment, notes that the wealth hole leaves Black entrepreneurs, particularly these in low-margin industries like shopper items or haircare companies, in financially weak positions, with tariffs additional eroding their earnings.
“Many Black entrepreneurs began off with much less wealth,” Perry stated.
Black companies have endured for generations by way of innovation and resilience, and it’ll take that very same spirit to navigate the challenges People now face because of Trump’s tariffs. Business consultants have been providing ideas for small enterprise homeowners affected by the tariffs, together with speaking overtly with prospects, reassessing provide chains, streamlining operations to handle inefficiencies, consulting a monetary advisor, and exploring enterprise credit score strains.
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