EDISON (WABC) — A New Jersey community is feeling the impact especially hard from President Trump’s trade war.
‘Little India’ in Middlesex County also known as Oak Tree Road, is a vibrant shopping, business and dining district that runs through parts of Edison and Woodbridge.
But since the U.S. doubled the tariff on Indian imports to 50 percent last month, many of those businesses wonder if they can even survive.
A hearty staple for millions of families is rice.
“Like basmati rice, one brand for a 10-pound bag the previous price was 17.99 now it’s 21.99,” Raj Patel Co-owner of the Patel Brothers Grocery Stores, said.
The Patel Brothers grocery chain had to make price hikes about three weeks ago when President Trump’s 50% tariffs on goods from India went into effect.
Now it’s costing the company more to stock certain foods and supplies.
The last thing they want to do, Patel says, is to pass that cost on to their customers.
They also don’t want to discontinue items, especially if they are popular.
Some items are costing them more to import and they are taking the loss to make them available.
“With a lot of products, a little bump is not too big of a difference. We as a business can eat the cost, but then there’s a point where it doesn’t make sense for us to eat the cost so we have no choice but to raise the price,” Patel said.
Edison, New Jersey has a huge and ever-growing Asian population.
One of Mayor Sam Joshi’s goals has been to make it as economically sound and affordable as possible.
Federal tariffs are beyond his reach to remedy.
“People know better than that but they know we are doing whatever we can and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Mayor Joshi said.
Bringing more business to the region is a mission he is on now.
Eyewitness News spoke to the mayor a day before he joined Governor Phil Murphy on a trip to India.
They’re hoping to solidify and forge new business partnerships that would expand opportunities in the state.
“Everything from tech, AI manufacturing jobs and biotech, biofarma jobs back to New Jersey,” Joshi said.
While local leaders tackle business relationships overseas, companies like Patel Brothers hope federal officials will reconsider decisions that affect many families every day when they sit down to eat.
“Like it’s an invisible cost to our customers. That 3 to 5 dollar difference for a lot of these people that are on SNAP and EBT benefits, they have to make decisions now on what comes to the dinner table,” Patel said.
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