(WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES) Two prominent members of Wisconsin’s Latino business community said President Donald Trump’s policies are hitting their companies and customers, warning that tariffs and stepped-up immigration enforcement are straining fragile operations and fraying trust in public spaces. Juan Corpus, executive director of the Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce, and Nataly Andrade, co-founder of Mercadera Market, described higher costs, snarled shipments, and shrinking crowds at local events as the immediate fallout of Trump policies they say have made it harder to run a Latino business in the state.
Corpus said rising import costs tied to new and proposed tariffs are squeezing balance sheets and forcing owners to raise prices, even as many rely on personal savings to keep the doors open.
“From a tariffs perspective, those downstream costs impact Latino businesses, like all the other businesses. Those resources to build or make our products become higher, then that cost has to be passed off to somebody else.”
He added that the safety cushions most entrepreneurs lean on are thin.
“If for whatever reason you encounter challenges, you’ve now drained your only safety net,”
he said, describing how a single shock can push a microbusiness into crisis.
Andrade said the stress shows up in daily conversations with vendors and shoppers across Wisconsin’s Latina entrepreneur network. She said shipping holdups and a drop in attendance at pop-up markets have combined to choke off sales that many women depend on to support their families.
“I was just talking to one (vendor) yesterday. He’s had packages on hold since August. He hasn’t been able to ship new merchandise to sell.”
The fear tied to immigration enforcement is changing how people move through their neighborhoods, she added.
“There have been years where we’ve hosted more than 30 markets a year and just provided safe spaces for women to show up and sell their goods. But now we’ve found that people aren’t attending to support local talent as much as they used to because people may be afraid of showing up in public spaces.”
She added that the fear tied to enforcement is changing how people move through their neighborhoods.
The concerns come as the White House moves ahead with trade actions that have raised prices on imported goods from Latin America, along with a tougher enforcement posture that community leaders say has kept both buyers and sellers indoors. Since January 2025, Trump has imposed or proposed tariffs ranging from 10% to 25% on Latin American countries, with the highest rate—25%—applied to goods from Mexico. For Latino business owners who import materials or finished products, those tariffs serve as a tax that ripples through supply chains, lifting input costs and narrowing already slim margins. The result, in Corpus’s words, is a forced hand on pricing that tests customer loyalty and reduces sales.
At the same time, arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Wisconsin rose by 22% from January–July 2025 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the community leaders. Corpus said everyday routines are shifting as families reorganize travel and errands to avoid draws on law enforcement attention.
“I have certain community members, friends, where they are now acting as the drivers, chauffeurs for family members or close friends that are scared to go out.”
Andrade said the climate has deterred both vendors and customers from public venues, weakening the core of community markets that thrive on foot traffic and word-of-mouth. The fear she described parallels broader anxieties voiced by immigrant advocates across the state, who point to plans for mass deportations as a source of continued unease.
The hit to the state’s Latino business ecosystem is amplified by the structure of the community’s enterprise base. A 2024 report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found the number of Latino-owned businesses in Wisconsin nearly tripled from 1997 to 2012, reflecting decades of entrepreneurship growth. Yet almost 90% of those firms have no employees, meaning most are solo operations without a buffer in staffing or revenue. Owners often lean on personal savings to buy inventory, pay vendors, or cover rent—precisely the type of self-financing that can be quickly drained by higher costs linked to tariffs or a sudden drop in customers staying home due to immigration enforcement fears.
Nationally, nearly half of Latino-owned businesses in the U.S. with more than $10,000 in annual sales are involved in importing or exporting, making them especially exposed to trade barriers and shipping slowdowns. In Wisconsin, that exposure shows up in delayed shipments like those Andrade described and in difficult choices about pricing that can put everyday items out of reach for regulars. When supply chain delays collide with tariffs, inventories thin and replacement costs climb, prompting owners to cut orders, scale back product lines, or pass on increases that dampen demand.
Andrade said the changes are visible at Mercadera Market’s pop-ups, which in past years formed a steady calendar for artisans and food vendors building local followings. The market
“hosted more than 30 markets a year,”
she said, adding that those events were designed as
“safe spaces for women to show up and sell their goods.”
Now, she said, the combination of tariffs driving up wholesale prices and fear of immigration enforcement has hollowed out attendance, making once-reliable weekends far less predictable. Vendors who rely on a handful of event days each month are recalculating whether to take the risk of showing up with new inventory—especially if earlier shipments have been stuck in transit for weeks.
Corpus, whose Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce supports hundreds of entrepreneurs across the state, said the current policy mix forces Latino business owners to weigh price hikes against loyalty to customers who may also be feeling the squeeze. For many small shops and family-run vendors, customer relationships are built over years of local presence and community ties. Trump policies that raise costs through tariffs create a pressure point inside those relationships, compelling owners to choose between long-term trust and short-term survival. For businesses fueled by savings, that is a choice made with the knowledge that a misstep could pierce the last financial safety net.
Immigration enforcement has added an emotional layer that is harder to price but just as impactful. Community activist Mireya Sigala from Eau Claire said the effect of the president’s plans is visible far beyond storefronts.
“Trump’s mass deportation plans are inciting fear among immigrants throughout Wisconsin who are concerned about members of their communities being separated from friends, family members, and coworkers,”
she said, describing how the threat of separation shapes daily decisions to commute, attend events, or seek services. Those personal calculations spill into the economy when shoppers skip markets, carpools replace public outings, and event organizers brace for thin turnouts.
Business owners say these twin pressures are entwined. A vendor who faces shipping delays and higher import costs due to tariffs might finally receive goods at a price that requires higher shelf tags. But if foot traffic is down because customers fear public spaces amid more visible enforcement, the chance to recoup that higher cost shrinks. One weak link—whether a blocked package
“on hold since August”
or an empty market aisle—can ripple through a month’s cash flow.
The risk is heightened in a state where Latino business growth has been strong but resources remain tight. The University of Wisconsin-Madison data show that despite rapid growth in business formation, most Latino-owned enterprises operate without employees, office staff, or accounting departments, relying on owners to wear many hats. Those owners face a volatile mix: compliance costs, inventory financing, and marketing on shoestring budgets. Add tariffs that lift import prices by 10% to 25% and an enforcement climate that thins crowds, and many say they are left with fewer practical workarounds.
Corpus’s point about drained savings highlights the thin margins. He said that when unexpected cost spikes hit, owners dip into personal accounts to pay suppliers or rent, leaving little room for the next disruption. That can set off a chain reaction—late payments, lost supplier discounts, and reduced restocking—that weakens a business’s ability to compete. In retail and food, where many Latino business owners in Wisconsin operate, the combination of higher wholesale prices and reduced sales volume can turn a modest profit into a loss.
Andrade’s description of vendors unable to ship new merchandise underscores a second-order effect of tariffs: logistical uncertainty. When border inspections intensify and carriers adjust routes or schedules in the face of trade policy shifts, small importers with limited bargaining power can find themselves at the back of the line. Missing just one market weekend can mean losing a key sales window, especially for seasonal goods or perishable items. She said that the cultural and social role of markets magnifies the harm when attendance drops—events designed as safe spaces for women entrepreneurs lose that function if fear keeps people home.
In communities across Wisconsin, the response to Trump policies is also changing how families coordinate daily tasks. Corpus said friends and neighbors are stepping in as
“drivers, chauffeurs”
for those who worry about being stopped on the way to work, school, or a market stall. That practical adjustment translates into fewer spontaneous purchases and less participation in civic life—choices that carry a quiet cost for small shops that depend on regular local spending. For store owners, the difference between a busy Saturday and a slow one can be the difference between ordering new stock and cutting back.
Advocates say the 22% jump in ICE arrests since the start of the year has helped cement those habits. Public announcements of enforcement actions can be enough to depress event attendance, even if no raids materialize at a particular market. The uncertainty is itself a deterrent, building week to week into a new baseline for public life. Information spreads quickly through family networks and community groups, leading some to cancel plans to attend pop-ups, visit restaurants, or browse thrift and artisan stalls. For one-person businesses, lost foot traffic can be hard to replace online, especially if shipping issues persist.
The policy debate around tariffs has typically focused on macroeconomic markers—trade balances, inflation, and manufacturing jobs. But for import-reliant microbusinesses in Wisconsin’s Latino community, tariffs function as a direct, immediate cost that can’t be smoothed by hedging or volume discounts. Owners know their customers face tight budgets too, so price increases can cut directly into sales volume. That is why Corpus and Andrade are pushing to highlight the daily realities of Latino business, arguing that discussions of Trump policies should consider what happens when a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico changes the math for a neighborhood vendor.
The enforcement side of the ledger presents a similar disconnect. Federal officials frame actions as routine or targeted, but community leaders say the perception of heightened risk is enough to alter behavior in ways that sap small-scale commerce. Sigala’s warning that
“members of their communities” fear being “separated from friends, family members, and coworkers”
captures a social cost that shows up in storefront traffic and market vitality. Over time, those muted Saturdays and canceled events can push entrepreneurs to pause expansions, drop product lines, or exit altogether.
For now, Corpus and Andrade say they are focused on helping owners adapt—sharing information, encouraging contingency plans for inventory, and reminding customers that their spending keeps local talent afloat. But they stressed that adaptation has limits when the core pressures are policy-driven. Tariffs do not spare small shipments, and enforcement trends filter quickly through word of mouth. Business groups can offer workshops and legal clinics, yet the fundamental choices shaped by Trump policies—how much to tax imported goods and how aggressively to pursue deportations—continue to define the landscape.
As the debate continues in Washington, local leaders say they need relief where it counts: at the border for goods and in neighborhoods for people. Until then, the combination of tariffs and tougher enforcement is likely to keep reshaping how Latino business gets done in Wisconsin—what vendors stock, how customers shop, and whether the next market day feels like a celebration or a risk. For information on enforcement policies and community resources, residents often turn to U.S. government pages such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This Article in a Nutshell
Wisconsin Latino entrepreneurs report that Trump-era tariffs (10%–25%, up to 25% on Mexico) and stepped-up immigration enforcement are raising costs, delaying shipments and scaring away customers. The result: higher prices, thinner inventories, and fewer market attendees. With nearly 90% of Latino businesses operating without employees and relying on personal savings, owners face drained safety nets. Community leaders call for targeted relief and local support to stabilize fragile enterprises and restore consumer confidence.
