Planning the wedding of your dreams? Not in Trump’s America!
As we head into Mother’s Day and the beginning of graduation and wedding season, the floral industry is reporting rising costs for consumers thanks to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Trump’s array of haphazard tariffs on imported goods includes flowers and associated merchandise like vases and containers that are imported from China.
In fact, 80% of the flowers consumed in the United States come from overseas. In 2024, the United States imported at least $2.2 billion worth of greens and cut flowers, with most coming from South America.
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Now thanks to Trump’s tariffs, flower growers are experiencing increased expenses, which are being passed on to consumers.
Rebecca Kutzer-Rice, owner of specialty cut flower farm Moonshot Farm in New Jersey, said that Trump’s tariffs are impacting her business when purchasing bulbs from overseas.
“We’re estimating it could cost our small business anywhere from $40,000 to $50,000 a year, which for a small farm is almost the equivalent of, like, a salary of another employee,” she said.
Similarly, Indiana florist Phil Hurlbutt of the Flower Cart LLC, which imports products from Canada and Ecuador, told WNDU-TV that Trump’s tariffs could increase expenses by up to 125%.
“It’s affecting us, it’s affecting our price, it’s affecting our situation of running a smooth business,” he explained.
According to the Wall Street Journal, brides are also tightening their belts as prices increase before their weddings.
“When you hear about these tariffs, you want to evaluate everything,” Rhode Island resident Kelly Elizabeth said, scrapping plans to buy European wines and customized T-shirts for her wedding.
A Cartoon by Clay Bennett.
Couples are also choosing to scale back on the quality of flowers purchased for their weddings to avoid harsh tariff-inflicted cost increases.
And it’s not just flowers. Sandra Gonzalez of the National Bridal Retailers Association said that some wedding dress retailers are increasing bridal gown prices by 10% to 30%, since 90% of gowns are manufactured in China.
A March survey of small business owners by the National Federation of Independent Business found that 30% intended to raise prices following Trump’s tariff announcement.
These increases are directly impacting Americans as Trump, a purported billionaire, has been telling U.S. children that they have to cut back on toys as a result of his tariffs, which have also increased costs of board games, video game systems, and other leisure items.
Fun is more expensive, and now so is getting married, celebrating a graduation, and even purchasing flowers for Mother’s Day.
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