'Working for tariffs': A small Christmas supply firm in Utah is struggling with big bills

This holiday season, tariffs are threatening the survival of a small Christmas supply business outside of Salt Lake City.

This holiday season, tariffs are threatening the survival of a small Christmas supply business outside of Salt Lake City.

Jared and Dawnita Hendricks have owned Village Lighting for 23 years, selling and distributing a variety of Christmas products to big box stores and directly to consumers online. The company currently employs 15 people.

But when Village Lighting's 2025 holiday season garlands, wreaths, lights and decor arrived by ship at U.S. ports from Asia in recent months, many of them carried additional tariff costs of up to 50% per item.

These added fees are the result of President Donald Trump's far-reaching tariff agenda, which has raised U.S. import duties to levels not seen in over a century.

The Trump administration claims tariffs will boost the U.S. economy in part by forcing manufacturers to move operations to the United States, and further by forcing U.S. trade partners to make concessions.