But that new cost is a problem for the companies operating right at the margin—meaning the price they can sell their good or service at is only a little higher than the cost of production. To companies operating right on that edge, anything that raises the cost of production could tip them over into the position where they cannot stay in business without taking economic losses.
The cheap stores took a pounding in the markets today, because they import everything and work on volume. The irony is, the people who voted for Trump might utilise those same stores, and now the prices have to increase significantly.
We already saw the impact of general price inflation (stemming from money supply inflation) when the Dollar Tree chain raised all their prices to $1.25 a few years ago. And they were already relying on inexpensive Chinese goods in the first place. I wouldn't recommend them as a shopping destination in general, but there were some specific items I found that served my needs for the price. Not really anymore. This added cost will potentially wipe them out. People like to deride such stores as exploiting the poor, but that's an oversimplification.