With a July 9 deadline fast approaching, small U.S. manufacturers could be staring down another blow from escalating trade tensions. Robert Keeley, founder of guitar effects maker Keeley Electronics, recently used 1.83 million American Express reward points to cover a nearly $11,000 tariff bill. It's a stark example of how trade policy shifts are hitting the businesses least equipped to absorb them. Firms with fewer than 100 employees—who make up 93% of U.S. industrial manufacturers—are feeling the squeeze. Unlike large multinationals, they don't have deep war chests or redundant supply chains. Many rely on components from China, and as tariffs spike, so do the survival risks.
Inside this niche world of guitar pedal makers, leaders like Julie Robbins, CEO of EarthQuaker Devices, are fighting to stay above water. Robbins told the U.S. Senate in May that she used to pay $1.40 for a blank circuit board from China. Now? The U.S. equivalents run over $20. That math doesn't work—and with 35 employees to support, she's weighing the possibility of shifting production abroad just to stay afloat. That's the irony. While the administration frames tariffs as a reshoring strategy, small manufacturers say the pressure might push them in the opposite direction. Apple may be pledging $500 billion to domestic investment, but boutique firms like EarthQuaker and Keeley Electronics aren't sitting on that kind of capital.
The industry isn't going down quietly. Nearly 50 small manufacturers now meet regularly in a virtual “Pedal Builders Support Group,” trading ideas on how to navigate rising costs. Some, like Jon Cusack of Cusack Music, have drained their savings. Others, like EveAnna Manley of Manley Labs, have cut workweeks to three days to trim expenses. And Josh Scott of JHS Pedals is using his platform to educate customers on where tariff costs actually land—squarely on the backs of American businesses. As Robbins put it: “I don't think any of us are willing to go down without a fight.” But time—and cash—may be running short.
