BOSTON (WHDH) – It’s that time of the year. Flower shops across the country are stocking up for Mother’s Day.
But imposed tariffs from the Trump administration is complicating that.
The 10% tariff imposed on all goods coming into the U.S. is hitting florists especially hard.
According to the Association of Floral Importers of America, more than 80% of flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from South America.
“They have the same temperature all year round. So the commerciality of of growing what we need for the consumers 52 weeks a year is able to be done,” said Christin Boldt, Executive Vice President of the Association of Floral Importers of America.
Industry experts say it’s hard to manage imports that are fragile.
“It is perishable, it comes when it comes and we gotta, we gotta move it as fast as possible,” said Boldt.
Florists say the tariff could cost them up to an additional $50,000 a year, which in turn, could cost the consumer more.
Many small business owners say they’ve built a resilience due to challenges presented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The farmers that we work with, they may source things like bulbs or seeds from international sources, and if those things are marked up, that cost is eventually going to get passed on to us,” said Amber Flack, owner of Little Acre Flowers.
“What our industry really did was they, they got much better at planning in advance. They really leaned into their supplier relationships because that’s so important in times like this,” said Kate Penn, the CEO of the Society of American Florists.
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