The Trump tariffs are forcing creators to overhaul their side businesses

Last month, video creator Matt Steffanina pushed back the launch of his apparel brand MadChill due to uncertainty over the future of TikTok Shop. Following the institution of Trump’s tariffs, Steffanina had to delay the launch further in order to find a new — and more expensive — manufacturer that operated entirely outside of China. 

“The provider that I use is 50 percent in America and 50 percent in China,” he said. “So, yeah, we’re trying to get everything that we do made in the U.S. so that it’s just easier across the board, especially on delivery times and everything like that.”

YouTuber Tyler “Antenna Man” Kleinle, whose content focuses on the installation of television antennas, is gearing up to launch his own signal meter product in 2025. His supplier is located in China, so he plans to price the product more aggressively than initially anticipated due to the tariff. 

“With my signal meter, there are additional costs beyond the price of the product, including consulting fees, commission, shipping, defective units, returns, et cetera,” Kleinle said. “While 10 percent might not sound like much, it really does impact things to the point I have no choice but to pass off the price increase to my viewers, which I really hate to do.”

LordDraconical, a YouTube creator whose company Aethernaut Incorporated designs and 3D prints toy products such as foam dart blasters, manufactures most of his company’s goods domestically. However, he said that his production fees would rise due to the increased costs of raw materials and hardware from China.

“We have a pretty large backlog of that stuff — the holding cost of springs and screws is zero — but we do have a pretty large order going up, and I imagine that the tariffs on it are going to be significant,” he said.

The Trump administration’s tariffs are putting the squeeze on creators and influencers from multiple sides. In addition to raising the upfront costs of creators’ side businesses, the tariffs have also reportedly convinced some foreign brands to halt their spending on influencer marketing campaigns.

Potential upsides

Although content creators believe the Trump administration’s tariffs could hurt their side businesses, they anticipate some potential advantages as well.

“Companies tend to pass the cost of tariffs on to consumers through a price increase, which ironically would mean I’d make more in affiliate commission through products I recommend,” Kleinle said.

LordDraconical, who asked to keep his real name private to protect his personal information, said that many of his company’s competitors are toy manufacturers located in China, giving a potential competitive edge to his domestically manufactured products as a result of the tariffs.

“In the toy industry, there’s clearly no getting away from Xinzheng [a city in China known for its industrial output] manufacturing,” he said.