Shaquana Teasley knows firsthand about the sting the economic agenda imposed by the Trump administration can deliver.
Known as “Shaq,” Teasley is the founder and CEO of Agate Solutions. Her Atlanta-based firm specializes in international trade and U.S. Customs regulation. Teasley told BLACK ENTERPRISE that her firm has been experiencing lower revenue and has had to lay off staff since President Donald Trump shutdown the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), one of her largest clients.
As an independent federal agency and global provider of humanitarian aid, USAID managed over $40 billion and assisted roughly 130 countries.
“It’s unfortunate to see the cease of USAID. However, due to our expertise in tariff recovery, our business is still thriving because we’re helping Black businesses increase their profit margins.”
An international trade expert, Teasley, pointed out that Black businesses should now try to capitalize on tariff optimization programs. She says there are regulations that support duty deferral tariff engineering and manufacturing strategies that could benefit Black firms that qualify for such programs.
Teasley, who has over 20 years of industry experience, says she led initiatives for the world’s largest defense contractor to recover $30 million in tariffs during the Chinese Trade War under the first Trump administration.
Still, the potential financial repercussions tied to actions by Trump and his regime looks bleak for the nation’s small businesses, including Black entrepreneurs.
Concerns about how small businesses can grow and handle other challenges recently emerged from three new reports that reveal possible dire impacts for those firms.
A fresh analysis by Creative Investment Research estimates that the cancellation by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of 104 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) contracts and higher levels of discrimination in general estimates the annual economic revenue losses to be $1.6 trillion to $2.6 trillion.
William Michael Cunningham, an economist and CEO of Creative Investment Research, says the revenue loss estimate greatly exceeds the $1 billion in “savings” the DOGE announced.
DOGE is led by Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump appointed to help cut the federal spending.
Cunningham says the research shows reduced government spending will boost social and economic costs in several areas, including employment, housing, business lending, and healthcare. For instance, it was calculated minority entrepreneurs may be unable to gain future federal contracts and capital access, limiting economic growth by $500 billion to $800 billion annually.
“Moving away from inclusive economic policies and programs reduces gross domestic product or GDP, especially in a country as diverse as the United States of America.”
Dr. Kenneth Harris, president and CEO of the National Business League (NBL), asserts via email that the damage caused by the loss of DEI programs to Black businesses is overrated and not substantiated by real data. He contends that less than an estimated 1% annually of federal contracts are awarded to Black businesses.
The NBL identifies itself as America’s oldest and largest national trade group for Black businesses, with over 120,000 members. It was founded in 1900 by Booker T. Washington.
Harris maintains that DEI initiatives have been largely ineffective, with benefits disproportionately accruing to white women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other minority groups. He added Black Business Enterprises (BBEs) remain marginalized and at the bottom of the economic caste.
“The failure of DEI programs to equitably distribute economic opportunity to Black businesses underscores a critical need for systemic change,” Harris asserts.
“For this to materialize, the dismantling and reimagining of DEI must be done not by those who have historically led these initiatives but by those who have been economically oppressed and excluded,” Harris adds. “Only then can we anticipate a shift where BBEs can thrive by manufacturing, creating, and growing within our own borders?”
U.S. small business owners are growing more concerned about the financial fallout on trade policies. Trump just announced he will apply fresh 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum. He also plans to declare reciprocal tariffs later this week on Canada and Mexico after delaying those taxes by a month last week.
A new survey from Alignable, a North American small business networking platform, shows that 30% of those owners expect revenue losses due to proposed tariffs, with 15% anticipating large declines. In contrast, just 18% foresee any kind of sales boost, and only 9% expect to see substantial gains. Forty percent feel tariffs will have no impact, and 12% are not sure.
Voice of Main Street, a quarterly opinion poll of entrepreneurs in the Small Business Majority network, says 53% of small businesses are concerned about tariffs adversely impacting their business, and 77% are worried about announced tariffs negatively impacting the U.S. economy.
On immigration policy, the poll reported that 37% of entrepreneurs are concerned about mass deportations negatively affecting their businesses or their suppliers’ businesses, while 69% are concerned about the downside of mass deportations on the nation’s economy.
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