August 19, 2025

From Hoping Tariffs Would End… to Facing the Long Game

Back in April, we shared an update on the chaos that was the early days of Trump’s new tariffs — including the surreal moment Norfolk Island, our tiny home in the South Pacific with zero exports, was branded one of the “worst tariff offenders” in the world, sending our KOOSHOO story globally viral. Our appearance on national news in Canada

At the time, the 90-day tariff schedule felt like a storm that might pass. We said: Let’s hold our prices steady for now. Let’s ride this out. Surely saner minds will prevail.

Four months later, those “temporary” tariffs have morphed into something ill-conceived, yet permanent. In fact, the rates haven’t gone away; they’ve gone up. And it’s now clear this isn’t just a passing squall. It’s a climate shift.

Where We Stand Today

You may not know this, but we’ve always paid tariffs to bring KOOSHOO hair accessories into the U.S. In 2025, those tariffs on goods from India and Japan — where our products are ethically made — rose sharply.

Here’s what the tariff picture now looks like:

Japan: From 2.9% in January to 17.9% by late July.
India: Started at 2.9–14%, then +10% in April, +25% in August, and likely another jump to as high as +50% over start-of-year rates by the end of the month. In other words, if a product costs us $1 to make, the total cost in January was $1.14 and by August 27, that exact same good will cost us $1.64.

We’ve absorbed more than $5,000 in extra duties so far this year. We’ve done that without passing a cent on to you, because we believed — or at least hoped — this was temporary.
KOOSHOO Founders with some of the team at their Japanese family-business manufacturer

The Bigger Picture

Here’s the truth: aside from a few boutique house brands, every hair accessory sold in the U.S. is made abroad. Most are produced by suppliers without any ethical mandate, meaning they have tools at their disposal that we do not:

Swapping in cheaper, lower-quality materials
Cutting corners on worker safety and wages
Turning a blind eye to pollution in the communities where they operate

Even then, those products are already going up in price or shrinking in quantity - shrinkflation, as its known.

KOOSHOO faces the same cost pressures — but we won’t respond in those ways. We won’t compromise on:

Quality: Our materials will stay premium, plant-based, and high-performing
Ethics: Our partners — from the Fairtrade-certified nuns in India to the family-run mill in Japan — will continue to be paid fairly and work in safe conditions
Planet: Our supply chain will remain low-impact and free of plastic wherever possible

These are non-negotiables.

Why Haven’t Prices Gone Up Sooner?

Some economists seem surprised prices didn’t spike back in April when the tariffs were first announced. But this view undervalues just how hard most businesses work not to raise prices.

We — like many other small businesses — waited out the initial 90-day period hoping cooler heads would prevail and these tariffs would never take effect. We absorbed the extra costs during that time because we wanted to give our customers stability, not more cost pressures having just endured similar post-Covid price increases.

It’s only now, seeing that these tariffs are here to stay due to recently announced trade deals (at least under the current regime), that we’re making adjustments — just as customers are going to start seeing price movements across many categories, from many companies.

And these tariffs don’t just affect products made overseas. We manufactured in the U.S. for eight years, but our organic cotton always came from India, the sewing machines from China, trim (ie, buttons) from abroad too. If we were making in the U.S. today, the cotton, the sewing machines, and much of the essential manufacturing equipment would still be subject to these broad-based tariffs — a wolf's tax in sheep’s clothing.

Where the Money Really Goes (and Why Tariffs Change the Math)

When you hear “made overseas,” it’s easy to picture all the money leaving the U.S. But for KOOSHOO products sold in the U.S., the opposite is true — most of the value stays in the U.S., creating jobs, paying local businesses, and circulating through communities.

Here’s an example breakdown of a $10 KOOSHOO headband before tax (numbers rounded for ease), and exactly who you’re supporting with each dollar:

$4.00 → Your local store where you buy the headband — Pays store staff, managers, administrators, and often the small business owner who runs it. These are general stores, zero waste stores, hair salons, gyms, gift stores, and grocers in every corner of the USA supporting jobs in their local communities.
$2.70 → Our U.S. distributor, or our U.S. warehouse — A small business in Wisconsin (distributor) or Idaho (warehouse) employing office staff, warehousing teams, and sales reps across the country.
$0.60 → U.S.-based freight forwarder — Idaho-based freight brokers, truckers from across America, and airline crews that move KOOSHOO products from India and Japan into Wisconsin.
$0.14 → U.S. government import duty — A tariff we’ve been paying for the past six years, with funds that stay in the domestic economy. Note this $0.14 on a $10 item is what we've always paid, until tariffs started going up sharply in April.
$0.30 → U.S. brokers — Sales reps who help stores across the USA keep KOOSHOO products stocked and beautifully merchandised.
$1.00 → Our overseas manufacturer — A Fairtrade-certified partner paying living wages and working to the highest ethical standards.
$1.26 → KOOSHOO (Norfolk Island-based) — From this we pay our small team of talented humans around the world, ourselves, all the costs of administration, marketing, and a lot right back into the U.S. through payments to photographers, marketing consultants, influencers, and printers.

Up until April, import duty on a headband made in India was $0.14 (as above). Now, it’s $0.64 — more than four times higher. From our small margin (the $1.26 above), we still need to pay our team, taxes, product sampling, and more.

Members of the current US Administration like to go on talk shows to say “brands will just eat the tariffs”. And while that sounds lovely and perhaps there are businesses out there that can, the reality for the vast majority of small businesses is that is simply impossible. Removing another $0.50 from our margin is the difference between a sustainable small business that supports thousands of jobs across the US, and, well, bankruptcy.

Here’s the reality: 77% ($7.74 of $10) of every KOOSHOO headband’s retail price already stays in the U.S. economy — supporting store staff, distributors, brokers, freight companies, and more.

The stated goal of these tariffs is to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., but we know firsthand that’s not realistic. We made products domestically for eight years and only moved production overseas to keep KOOSHOO alive and to continue supporting all the people our sales uplift.

Will These Tariffs Make you Move Manufacturing to the USA?

We made our hair accessories in Los Angeles for 8 years.

When we last made headbands in the U.S. (2021), the cost to produce a single headband was over $5 — before freight, distributors, or retailers. That was pre-inflation before costs globally spiked due to supply chain disruptions. Those costs would be even higher today, and our organic cotton (still grown in India) would face tariffs on top. That’s why the same headband we sell today are retail for $9.99 was $25 at retail back then. Customers loved the product, but we also faced daily messages accusing us of gouging — when in truth, that was simply the cost of making hair accessories in the US.

The irony of the drive to shift manufacturing back to the USA? Our current model supports more U.S. jobs than ever before. By manufacturing responsibly overseas and passing the savings on to customers, we’ve grown our volume dramatically, expanded partnerships with American retailers and service providers, and created more wealth and opportunity in the U.S. economy than we ever could have at the smaller scale — and higher prices — of domestic production.

For the full story on why US manufacturing didn't work for our small business, or for you our customers, read this blog.

What’s Changing (and What’s Staying the Same)

Some products: No change at all.
Others: A modest increase — just enough to cover the new tariff reality. The maximum a price will change is by $1.

Even with these adjustments, KOOSHOO products still:

Last 2–5x longer than “old-school” plastic versions
Offer unbeatable cost-per-wear
Avoid the hidden costs of waste, pollution, and planned obsolescence

What You Can Do

These tariffs don’t just affect KOOSHOO — they affect every small business that makes their products ethically. Big corporations have the resources (and in some cases - ahem Tim Cook - political access) to secure exceptions. Small, values-led businesses don’t.

Here’s how you can help shape the future you want to see:

Support small businesses today. Buy the products you believe in. It's the ultimate show of solidarity and support for the types of businesses that you want to see flourish in this world.
Share their stories. Post about the brands you love. Forward their emails. Tell your friends. We can't possibly put words to how impactful this is to a small business. Start by following us on Instagram and engaging with our posts.
If you’re in the U.S., call your representatives. Tariffs are taxes — and like most taxes on goods, they hit lower- and middle-income households the hardest. Let your elected officials know you oppose blanket tariffs that raise consumer costs without building the infrastructure to bring manufacturing back sustainably.
Think long-term. Every purchase is a vote for the kind of products — and the kind of economy — you want in the future.

Why We’re Telling You This

Because KOOSHOO is built on honesty, transparency, and empowerment.

We could have quietly updated prices and moved on, but we believe our community deserves the “why” behind every decision. You’re not just buying a hair tie or a headband — you’re investing in a system that values people, planet, and performance equally.

Thank you for sticking with us, and for choosing products that are still beautiful, still ethical, and will always be the best value for money in the category.

In gratitude,

Rachel & Jesse
Founders, KOOSHOO