In NYC's Chinatown, a family-owned restaurant says tariffs are causing costs to rise dramatically
President Donald Trump's ongoing trade war with China is threatening Chinese restaurants in New York City's Chinatown. Restaurants like Phoenix Palace import nearly every ingredient they use from China and already operate with small profit margins.
"The rice, the soy sauce, our entire menu is built off that! We're not importing fresh ingredients like vegetables, but everything else around it - spices, seasonings, even our beers. Now it's double. Who's going to pay $20 for a beer? It's impacting us every time we put food on the table," owner of Phoenix Palace Cory Ng said.
Trump tariffs impacting Chinatown businesses
The Trump administration slapped a 145% tariff on all Chinese imports, which has caused prices of goods to skyrocket. A 40-pound bag of rice used to go for $25, but now it has skyrocketed to $61.
"It's a trade war. They're puffing their chests to see who can puff it for longer without backing down," Ng said.
Ng explained that he's desperately trying to avoid passing the rising costs onto his customers. He hopes the White House will realize how much the tariffs impact everyday Americans trying to make a living.
"Stuff that most people never had to think about becomes a big factor now all on top of the rise of living in general going up," Ng says.
Restaurant owners are scrambling to plan, and some of Ng's suppliers have said they may be shutting down for a few months to stay afloat in the long term.
"[The suppliers are] calling each other. They're asking the question, 'Hey, what are you going to do?' And no one has the right answer because it changes every day," Ng says.
"Chinatown is a resilient community"
Phoenix Palace draws from Ng's family history and he hopes that he can continue to invest in the community that made him who he is.
"We're just a community restaurant. I get it, a business is to make money, but it's not for us to have a collection of Rolexes. It's to take care of our family," Ng continues. "Remember what my grandma and my mom had to do for us to get here. Yeah, and that's the point of it, to remember where we come from. It's a privilege."
Ng says Chinatown will weather the storm of tariffs for the sake of the community and the people who came before him.
"The older generation that did it for us, their jerseys are in the rafters. They're retired. It's on us as a generation to hold the torch, keep the flame going," Ng says. "Chinatown is a resilient community. We've beaten so many things. We gotta continue on this path, this legacy, and never let that go in vain."
