‘No one’s buying anything now’: how tariffs are striking a blow to historic Chinatowns

Already vulnerable from the pandemic and gentrification, Chinatown's immigrant-run businesses now face a trade war

On a balmy afternoon last month, Amy Tran unboxed a delivery at Yue Wa Market, a small grocery and herbal medicine shop in Los Angeles's Chinatown that she opened 17 years ago.

The package contained two dozen units of Shou Wu Chih, a Chinese herbal concoction known to rebuild kidney function and promote hair health. The shipment arrived two weeks after the US implemented new tariffs on Chinese imports, so her distributor charged her $115, a $35 markup from her previous order.