| The costs of the trade war are becoming more obvious. Take, for example, a florist who talked with Stacey Vanek Smith about the challenges of different levies on different supplies—and how he's passing them along to customers. Plus: The billionaire founder of Rocket Mortgage faces challenges of his own, and the Elon, Inc. podcast takes stock of where the "first buddy" stands. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up. Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose, unless you're talking about tariffs. In that case, an Ecuadorian rose is subject to an extra 10% charge from his suppliers, while a rose from Colombia is going to cost him about 20% more, says Jean-Pascal Lemire, owner of Jean-Pascal's Florist in Beverly Hills, California. Prices have been changing so fast, Lemire says, that he can hardly keep track—President Donald Trump has, by some counts, changed his tariff policies over 50 times since taking office. That's more than two changes per week. "At some point it just becomes a bit ludicrous," he says. After all, Lemire has blooms coming in from all over the world: Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Along with a singular scent, color and shape, each bloom comes with a unique tariff. The worst so far? "Orchids from Thailand. I'm paying an extra 35%."  Roses from Colombia. Photographer: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times/Getty Images Lemire says navigating the extra costs is beyond overwhelming. "It's difficult already owning a small business. These tariffs just make it …" he says, his voice trailing off. Uncertainty has been the only constant in Trump's trade war, and companies have been scrambling to adapt. Big corporations often have a certain amount of flexibility: They can shift costs around, squeeze suppliers for deals, whisk off to private meetings with the president or even airlift 600 tons of product from China. Small businesses, generally considered those that employ fewer than 500 people, don't have the same ability to adapt. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that it was a group of small businesses—not wealthy corporations with their armies of lawyers and deep pockets—that banded together to sue the Trump administration in the US Court of International Trade over his use of executive power to levy tariffs. They didn't have many other options. For the Everybody's Business podcast, I spoke with several small-business owners who are grappling with changing costs, tariffs and regulations. Small businesses are a vitally important part of the economy: Almost half of the people who work in the private sector work for a small business. Lemire says he looked into domestic suppliers, especially for the cellophane, boxes and other packaging materials he mainly sources from China. "I tried to buy American, I really did," he says. "Everything was too expensive." Lemire pays about $1 for a box from China; the same box in the US would cost him about $7. As for flowers, Lemire says local production is a bit of a nonstarter. "US farms tend to produce more of your filler flowers," he explains, "sunflowers, foliage, things like that." He's not alone in the struggle. A survey last month from the National Federation of Independent Business found sentiment among small-business owners dropping for the third month in a row, with owners citing poor sales and high interest rates as their top problems. Almost 30% said they planned to raise prices. Lemire saw that as his only option. He added a surcharge to each of his bouquets of $10, which he flags on his website for customers when they add flowers to their virtual cart. "Due to tariffs on imports from the Netherlands and Ecuador, a small fee has been applied," it reads. "We appreciate your understanding as we continue sourcing the world's finest blooms." | 
