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Why Trump’s tariff proposals have some business owners worried
Los Angeles — Bobby Djavaheri is trying to stock up his warehouse with appliances from overseas, while he can still afford it.
“We’ve been preparing for the last six months — both our factories and us as importers — for Trump to win,” Djavaheri told CBS News.
Djavaheri is president of Los Angeles-based Yedi Houseware Appliances, which manufactures its products in China. He says President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to increase tariffs will force him to charge more.
His company’s Yedi Evolution air fryer is currently priced at $130, Djavaheri said. He estimates that Trump’s proposed tariffs would raise that price to about $200. Yedi’s two-quart air fryer currently costs between $30 and $40. Trump’s tariffs could raise that to almost $100.
Trump campaigned on implementing a blanket tariff of 10% to 20% on all imports, along with an additional 60% or more on goods from China.
“It would decimate our business, but not only our business,” Djavaheri said. “It would decimate all small businesses that rely on importing.”
Djavaheri says it is not Chinese companies that pay the tariffs, it is his own business.
“We’re getting the bill, the bill comes straight to us from the government,” Djavaheri said.
Brian Peck, adjunct assistant professor of international trade law at USC, says Trump’s tariffs could also be a negotiating tactic.
“If he doesn’t like a certain practice or policy initiative, he can use it as leverage to threaten them,” Peck said. “…It’s important for the American people to understand that the people who pay tariffs are U.S. importers. Not China, not foreign governments, not foreign companies. That’s going to come down to your wallet.”
An August study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics indicated that Trump’s proposed tariffs could cost middle-income households more than $2,600 a year.
In 2018, when Trump slapped tariffs on imported washing machines, prices jumped almost $100. But foreign appliance makers also moved some production to the U.S., and a year later they had created 1,800 new jobs.
Other countries, however, retaliated with tariffs on U.S. exports, which led to job losses.
According to Djavaheri, most of Yedi’s products cannot at the moment be manufactured in the U.S.
“There’s no factory in America,” Djavaheri said. “A factory that could potentially produce hundreds of thousands of air fryers in one year, same quality, there’s no where in the world other than the Chinese.”
Djavaheri’s advice? If you’re considering a purchase, make it before the potential tariffs kick in.
There were no injuries after a Southwest flight carrying passengers was struck by gunfire on the tarmac of Dallas Love Field Friday night, authorities said.
Southwest Airlines Flight 2494 was preparing for departure to Indianapolis when “a bullet apparently struck the right side of the aircraft under the flight deck,” a Southwest spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.
The airline said no one was hurt. A spokesperson for Dallas Love Field said in an email that the aircraft returned to its gate after sustaining damage from a “security incident” and the passengers deplaned. The runway was also temporarily closed, but has since reopened.
Dallas police confirmed the incident, saying that officers responded to reports of gunfire at 9:48 p.m. local time, arriving to find that the aircraft had been struck.
No further details were provided on the circumstances of the incident or what was the potential source of the gunfire. It’s unclear how many people were aboard the jet at the time, or how much damage the aircraft sustained.
In its own statement provided to CBS News, the Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane “was reportedly struck by gunfire near the cockpit.”
Dallas police are leading the investigation into the incident.
Earlier this week, gunfire amid ongoing gang violence struck three planes that were either landing or departing Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince. The shootings prompted the FAA to issue a 30-day ban on U.S. airlines flying to Haiti.
Social media star Jake Paul defeated boxing legend Mike Tyson in a highly anticipated fight with an age difference of over three decades between the two contenders. The Friday night win for the YouTuber-turned-pro-boxer was streamed on Netflix from the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Texas.
Paul defeated Tyson by an unanimous decision after the two fighters went eight full rounds.
Fight night for the 58-year-old Tyson and 27-year-old Paul came following doubts over whether it would happen at all. The fight was originally scheduled for July, but was postponed after the former heavyweight champion experienced an ulcer flare-up on a plane in May.
A different kind of flare-up happened during the official weigh-in Thursday with Tyson slapping Paul in the face. Tyson later told the New York Post that Paul had stepped on his toe when the two were toe to toe onstage.
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What is Jake Paul’s fight record?
With the win, Paul’s record improved to 11-1.
Was Jake Paul predicted to win?
Oddsmakers had Paul as the slight favorite to win. Former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua also went with Paul.
How much prize money does Jake Paul win?
Paul was expected to earn about $40 million from the fight, according to DraftKings Network and other online sources.
Promoters didn’t reveal the payouts ahead of the bout. Paul is a co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, which produced the fight.
Does Mike Tyson still get paid?
Tyson was expected to take home around $20 million for the fight, according to DraftKings and other online reports.
Tyson entered professional boxing in 1985 and became the youngest heavyweight champion in history a year later. After serving time for a rape conviction in the 1990s, Tyson won the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles.
He retired from boxing in 2005 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011. He last fought in a 2020 exhibition match against former four-division world champ Roy Jones Jr.
“He like put on another 20 pounds from when I fought him, so he’s more bigger and he’s more dangerous because more size, more power, so it’s going to be a tough one for Jake to climb,” Jones told CBS News ahead of the fight.
Anne Marie Lee and
contributed to this report.
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