TEXAS — As tariffs continue to drive up costs for consumers, they’re also putting a serious strain on small businesses across the country — including in Texas.

For Alon Bernstein, owner of B & B Diamonds in Austin, the impact has been costly.

“I am seeing a mix of frustration and panic,” said Bernstein, who has operated his business since 1996.

Bernstein is no stranger to economic challenges.

In the late 2000s, he had to rethink how he ran his company when luxury goods became difficult to sell, but he says the current climate—amplified by tariffs—is presenting a different challenge.  

“I’ve had to just stop doing it,” Bernstein explained, referring to sending gemstones abroad for re-cutting.

He explains the tariffs are complicating wholesale transactions and manufacturing.

“I don’t know if this diamond is going to cost $10,000 or $20,000 by the time it gets here, and it creates this effect where all of these small businesses tighten up and could be laying people off,” said Bernstein.

This kind of financial unpredictability can be especially damaging for small businesses, which often are already faced with limited resources.

“These companies already have constraints in terms of cash flow and human resources,” said Raji Srinivasan, a marketing professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Recognizing these pressures, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling on President Donald Trump for relief.

Tom Sullivan, the chamber’s senior vice president of small business policy, said the organization received historic levels of small businesses seeking help.

“We are collecting hundreds and thousands of examples from small businesses on what’s working and what’s not working and trying to get those to the administration,” Sullivan said.

In April, the chamber sent a letter to the administration requesting tariff exclusions for small business importers.

Sullivan adds that it’s not unprecedented to have a sector-wide exclusion from tariffs and is confident that it is something the Trump administration could do.