Massive retaliatory tariffs that went into effect today before abruptly going on pause have left Eden Center businesses rethinking pricing and fearing for the future.
The Falls Church shopping center with over 120 family-owned businesses relies heavily on sales of imported goods from Vietnam, China and numerous other countries that have ridden an economic rollercoaster over the past week.
From a supermarket with thousands of imported groceries to a jeweler selling imported gold and accessories, Falls Church business owners told ARLnow that unfolding changes jeopardize substantial portions of their supply chains.
Local leaders and advocates stress the economic importance of the regional hub of Vietnamese commerce, but they are still formulating a game plan for Falls Church as sudden shifts continue to rattle the markets. As of today, China is now facing 125% tariffs and most countries still face 10% tariffs.
“Financially, this tariff could devastate small family-run businesses that have served as anchors of our community for generations,” D.C.-area Vietnamese advocacy group Viet Place Collective member Jess Nguyen said earlier today, shortly before President Donald Trump announced plans to delay a 46% tariff on Vietnamese goods. “Many of these business owners operate on razor-thin margins, considering the current economic landscape of the Eden Center.”
Good Fortune Supermarket assistant manager Belinda Bian told ARLnow earlier this week that she expects to lose money on the tariffs affecting Asian imports.
From produce to prepackaged foods, Bian said Good Fortune — which sells over 10,000 imported grocery items — has been preparing to raise prices in response to tariffs on its items from China, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea and more.
“If the purchase price changes, we have to do that,” she said. “We will try to not make it grow so high, like, a big difference. Probably, we’ll lose some money to keep the customers buying those items. We’ll sacrifice ourselves.”
‘I hope they stop it’
Le Park, an employee at Tiem Vang Tin Hanh Jewelers, told ARLnow that the price of her store’s gold jewelry imports from Italy and Hong Kong is expected to skyrocket under Trump’s tariff plan.
“Gold prices already went up [recently], plus the tariff. That means it’ll be so quiet,” Park said. “Sometimes four or five days, there’s zero [customers].”
Coupled with inflation and high rent costs since 2020, Bian said it’s been harder for Eden Center’s business owners to “keep the balance” financially. Increased prices may scare customers off, but stores still need to turn a profit.
“We just want to put food on everybody’s table. That’s very important, because for this store, it’s not only a store,” Bian said. “We have created a relationship with our community. They come here not to shop only, but to socialize, and sometimes, just say hi to us.”
Park said her shop is in a similar situation with increased costs and less business.
Nguyen, whose organization advocates for Vietnamese cultural preservation, says these economic symptoms are on-par with an “coordinated squeeze” that threatens to displace local Vietnamese businesses.
“When coupled with the looming threat of tariffs, we’re witnessing a coordinated squeeze: from the top down through federal trade policy and from the ground up through local rent exploitation,” she wrote. “The result is a systemic pushout of Vietnamese cultural and economic presence in the largest Vietnamese cultural and community hub on the East Coast.”
Not everyone sees it that way, however. Eden Center’s property owner, Capital Commercial Properties, expressed confidence in the center’s economic health — at least for the time being.
Alan Frank, senior vice president and general counsel, declined to comment directly on tariffs but said that business has been “terrific” lately.
“I hope it stays that way,” Frank told ARLnow. “It really is very good.”
Park added that she finds herself at odds with some of her Eden Center peers who express support for the president.
“I hope they stop it. The president needs to do something. You say they’re making America great. It’s not. He doesn’t,” Park said. “You hurt everybody right now … rich people, of course, they have the money to spend. But normal people, we got hurt.”
Back in August, President Trump made a surprise campaign visit alongside then-U.S. Senate candidate Hung Cao (R).
The duo received a supportive welcome from customers at Truong Tien restaurant.
“Somehow, I don’t know what it is, you’ll have to explain it, but the Vietnamese community loves me, and I love them,” Trump said.
He was met with cheers, though organizers at Viet Place Collective were “deeply concerned about Donald Trump’s weaponization of post-war refugee communities like ours,” Nguyen said.
While Vietnamese Americans tend to lean slightly more Republican at the ballot box, party lines are generally divided between the generations, according to Pew Research Center.
Local leaders react
The sporadic changes in policy have also rattled local leaders, including Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi.
She told ARLnow in an email that the city is “bracing for the impacts” — from effects on transportation projects that require steel, to the work done by local businesses, “especially at Eden Center.”
“I know how hard small businesses work to keep the doors open and serve our community, and these extra costs can make that even harder,” she wrote. “When tariffs drive up prices on goods, it not only affects their bottom line, but it can also make things tougher for customers.”
She intends to visit Eden Center this month to chat with business owners about the tariffs.
Meanwhile, Rep. Don Beyer (D) warned constituents about the “historically high” tariffs at a telephone town hall meeting Monday evening.
“If [Trump] leaves them in place, and we don’t know, he goes up and down, and up and down — they’re going to lead to massive price increases in American families,” Beyer said.
