'Put it on the receipt': Irked companies slap Trump-branded surcharges on their products
It didn’t take long for President Donald Trump’s tariffs to hit the pocketbooks of American consumers – and some businesses are making no secret of why new surcharges are appearing on their bills.
That’s according to a new report in Bloomberg, which detailed how a growing crop of businesses – ranging from companies selling shower heads to adult toys – are beginning to slap “Trump tariff” surcharges onto customers’ bills. It’s a “marketing gimmick” that could provide a financial boost to some specialized brands struggling under the steep new tariffs affecting Chinese goods, the report added.
“We think transparency is the way to go here and I am giving Trump full credit for his decision to add this Tariff to all U.S. consumers,” Jolie Skin Co. CEO Ryan Babenzien said as he announced the plan for his company, which makes filtered-water showerheads.
Jolie will roll out next week with a “Trump Liberation Tariff” surcharge, Babenzien told Bloomberg, adding that the company still hasn’t landed on what the amount of the fee will be on top of the cost of the $150 showerhead.
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But the Jolie CEO isn’t the only business owner grappling with the logistics of tacking on the Trump-inspired surcharge – part of a growing trend that included some restaurants which Bloomberg noted added surcharges to egg-related menu items when the grocery stable spiked earlier this year.
“Online forums are already teeming with advice on how business owners logistically can add tariff fees to their websites, and even suggesting that Shopify, a platform that hosts more than 5 million online storefronts, should include such a tool in its basic package,” Bloomberg reported Friday.
For some business owners, the surcharges aren’t just about covering the cost of the tariffs, according to Dame CEO and co-founder Alexandra Fine, who slapped a $5 “Trump Tariff Surcharge” to some products in the company's line of adult toys.
Fine told Bloomberg the move was “more about an expression of frustration and wanting to put it on the receipt."