BILLINGS — As President Trump's tariff push continues, grocers such as Isabela Asian Market on 24th Street West are preparing for uncertain times.
The store, which has been open for about five years, was created by Filipino native Mercy Vannett. She said it was hard to live in a new country, far from her favorite foods.
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"It was so hard for me when I came here," Vannett said. "I miss the food from where I grow up. There is no Asian food and if there is, you have to travel like miles and miles."
And that's why Vannett and her husband, Bruce Vannett, opened the store in the first place — trying to help other people like her have a taste of home.
“The motivation to help other Asian people, especially from the Philippines, because we are living too far from the big city,” she said.
Of course, for a business like hers to survive in Montana, it relies heavily on imports from other countries. Mercy said they import from all over the world.
"We get all of our products from Vietnam, Korea, Philippines, Thailand, China," Mercy said.
While President Trump issued a 90-day pause on the worldwide tariffs he issued just days before, many countries still have a 10 percent base tariff rate. In addition, the president ramped up his trade war with China, increasing tariff rates to 125 percent.
As uncertainty remains over future tariffs, the Vannetts expressed concern about their business.
“I am very concerned about it because I know the price is going to go up, and probably we are going to have a hard time getting other products,” Mercy said.
Her husband and business partner, Bruce Vannett, echoed her sentiments, adding that only time will tell how costly these tariffs become.
“Next big order, we’ll find out if we’ll have enough product to fill our shelves,” Bruce said.
Bruce said that he supports the tariffs and believes they will help the country, though he did admit that he didn't think the tariffs would affect him personally.
“I was all for it because I think the United States has been ripped off for so many years,” Bruce explained. "I really didn't think that it would affect us that much, but it is."
He said the impacts can already be seen in the fish market, noting that he attempted to order a particular type of fish and found out it would be delayed for months.
The Vannetts both added that their primary concern is for the customers.
“The cost that goes up for us, we’re going to have to pass that off to the consumer,” Bruce said.
"We're going to find out what's the prices in the next order, but we're going to try our best not to go up that much," Mercy said.
Despite the challenges posed by tariffs, Bruce remains optimistic about the market's resilience, adding that they overcame the COVID-19 pandemic after first opening in 2020.
“A lot of our shelves were partially bare because of the COVID epidemic, but it bounced back,” he said. "I think, like they're saying, it's going to be a hiccup but then it'll come back."
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