When Teana Nguyen first learned about President Donald Trump’s administration’s plan for a 46% tariff on items imported from Vietnam, she was conflicted about how to proceed.
Nguyen owns Pho 7 Corners, which is tucked away inside Eden Center, a well-known shopping plaza with tea shops, grocery stores, restaurants and retail in Falls Church, Virginia. She was told about the tariffs, and expected it to impact her business.
She buys fish from Vietnam, she said, and it’s become expensive and hard to get. A lot of other restaurant staples come from Canada.
She hasn’t felt the need to raise prices yet, and she’s worried about the prospect of having to do it a second time if she were to make a change.
In the midst of the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s tariffs — imposing them and then scaling them back for over 70 counties, including Vietnam — some business owners and shoppers at Eden Center are on edge and trying to craft a path forward.
Local news site ArlNow first reported the plaza’s response to the tariff back and forth.
“I would like to be, it’s settled out, and it’s 100% sure,” Nguyen said. “So I can raise only one time.”
Currently, a meal at Nguyen’s restaurant costs about $20, not including tax or tip. She’s been noticing fewer people eating out, likely because they have to save money for life essentials, such as insurance or housing.
“If we raise the rate to make our profit, this will affect the client,” Nguyen said. “Now, I’m so nervous, I don’t know what to do.”
Twee Galvin, meanwhile, said she’s expecting some people to spend less money on luxuries as a result of tariffs changing. She suspects some people, who may do their nails once per week, will now wait two or three weeks, and follow a similar pattern with haircuts or seeing a movie.
When eating out, Galvin said, “We don’t consume as much. Instead of full table, we just order maybe two, three dishes.”
She’s noticed the price of fish and beef go up in the grocery store, though she suspects supermarkets will fare well, because people may eat at home more instead of dining out.
James, who declined to give WTOP his last name, said he buys vegetables at Eden Center’s Good Fortune Supermarket and gets meat at Costco.
“It feels like, in the long term, everyone’s going to suffer,” he said. “I don’t know why it’s happening, but maybe in the future, things will get back to normal.”
Tony Nguyen, though, said things may be “in this year, more expensive, but next year, less. We survive with whatever the government gives us.”
Alan Frank, senior vice president of Capital Commercial Properties, which owns the Eden Center complex, said the tenants are “very resilient.”
“It’s never been busier,” Frank said. “It’s never been more well known. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the tariffs, but I don’t see a huge impact on Eden Center.”
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