"GOVERNMENT-CREATED DISASTER":

A swath of Long Island's economy, both businesses and consumers, are feeling the effects of heightened trade tensions between the United States and other countries.

"A lot of companies are putting on hold their plans to do business overseas or scrapping them altogether," said Savio S. Chan, an international trade consultant with an office in Great Neck. "There is great uncertainty about how to respond to the tariffs."

Since January, President Donald Trump increased tariffs about a half-dozen times, most notably on steel and aluminum from overseas in March and on two groups of Chinese products -- together valued at $50 billion -- on July 6 and Aug. 23. The metals tariffs were met with retaliatory taxes by Europe, Canada, Turkey and others. China responded to the tariffs on its goods by boosting taxes on $50 billion of U.S. products.

At Sea Eagle Boats Inc. owners Cecil and John Hoge said their cost of producing inflatable plastic kayaks, fishing boats and motorboats in China will jump by more than $1 million per year under a U.S. tariff set to go into effect in a couple of weeks. The company's annual sales total about $10 million.

"The tariff will be devastating," John Hoge said during a tour of his office and warehouse south of Port Jefferson harbor, where he tests new boat designs. "We'll have to raise our prices by 25 percent because there is no alternative source of supply. Nobody makes these boats in America."

He said 50-year-old Sea Eagle has always had its inflatable boats built overseas, first in Europe and now in Asia. It sells about 18,000 per year via the internet, mail-order catalogs and telephone. The boats are priced between $300 and $3,850.

Tariff-fueled price hikes "will mean fewer sales and less work," Hoge said, referring to the company's 18 employees. "We will be forced to lay people off because of this government-created disaster."

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