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Female Firms Seek Tariff Exemptions

Letter to Trump says women-owned firms suffering “unintended collateral damage” from levies

Published

4 weeks ago

April 17, 2025

VMSD Staff

Female Firms Seek Tariff Exemptions — Small businesses, including women-led ones, need exemptions from the higher tariffs being pushed by the Trump administration, a group of female company founders say. Photo: Javier Zayaz/iStock by Getty Images

Small businesses, including women-led ones, need exemptions from the higher tariffs being pushed by the Trump administration, a group of female company founders say. Photo: Javier Zayaz/iStock by Getty Images

The female founders of 38 companies with $800 million in combined revenue have written a letter asking the Trump administration, Congress and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for small business tariff exemptions, report a variety of news sources, including Fortune magazine.

Spearheading the effort are Allison Luvera and Lauren De Niro Pipher, cofounders of the wine brand Juliet. Other signers included handbag/fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff; Aishwarya Iyer, creator of olive oil brand Brightland; Hannah Cheng, of dumpling brand Mimi Cheng’s; Cyndi Ramirez-Fulton of beauty/skincare brand Chillhouse; and the cofounders of the Meghan Markle-backed Cesta Collective.

“We are becoming unintended collateral damage in an escalating global trade war,” they wrote. The letter also shares examples of that impact. Juliet, for example, says while it is mostly produced in the U.S., it has no viable domestic supplier for a key packaging component, which would boost its costs $200,000 annually.

The group seeks three things: tariff exemptions for small businesses below a designated revenue or employee threshold; assessments of tariff impact on small businesses before tariffs are put into effect; and support for transitions to domestic supply chains, including tax incentives, grants and technical assistance.

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