Tariffs hurting Italian goods shop in San Francisco

A San Francisco business owner who imports Italian items says she’s struggling to survive because of the current tariffs.

“These tariffs, they’re killing us,” Biordi Art Imports co-owner Deborah Baldini said. “It’s absolutely impacted our business.”

For nearly 80 years, Biordi Art Imports has been known for its unique stock of Italian-made dishes, busts and all manner of decorations. Because Biordi’s merchandise is all imported from Italy, most of Biordi’s increased costs are clear cut.

Baldini showed NBC Bay Area a bill she received from a recent FedEx shipment – $241.98 was the additional cost of tariffs for that shipment. That, along with the price of the weakening dollar, means her expenses now are about 25% more than last year. She’s struggling to survive.

“It’s going to be difficult,” Baldini said. “We have to do a lot of other things a lot better. We’re incorporating AI where we can. We’re trying to really, really manage our inventory really, really closely.”

Along with the increased costs, there are also increased times in customs inspections, which is the reason why Baldini has already put out Christmas ornaments. She ordered them earlier this year because she wasn’t sure how long it was going to take to get them through customs.

At the moment, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering President Donald Trump’s authority to unilaterally impose tariffs. Baldini is keeping tabs on what happens there.

While she said San Francisco is rebounding, that doesn’t necessarily mean more business.

“Our prices are going up,” she said. “We’re already, I would consider, luxury priced because everything is hand-crafted, hand-painted. There’s a point where people just aren’t going to purchase anymore. So even though there’s more people on the street walking around does not necessarily mean that our sales are increasing.”