VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Rich Rosa: Olive oil, pasta, sauce, and different types of cheeses. These are just some of the items being sold at Thanos Import Market in Syracuse. The products are coming from Mediterranean and European countries. President Donald Trump has a ten percent tariff in place for numerous countries. Owner Joe Carni says he is relieved with the percentage being lower.
Joe Carni: Obviously, we feel a little bit better with the pause and that it’s only 10% instead of, you know, up to 50% and some that were being talked about for different regions.
Rosa: Last week, Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs. Reciprocal tariffs are a tax or trade restriction that a country places on another in response to actions taken by that country. The pause applied to many countries, with the exception of one country: China. Trump has increased the tariffs in China to 125 percent. Despite the pause on higher tariffs, Thanos Import Market has started to bring in more goods from European Countries, such as Greece and Italy due to concern of what prices could look like in the future. Carni says many local businesses are following what he is doing.
Carni: I’ve talked to a number of different importers that in this period are bringing in as much as they possibly can at the rate now, so that they’re we’re not that we don’t have to push off that cost on either us or to customers.
Rosa: Syracuse economics professor Andrew Jonelis says businesses will have to make a judgment call on whether to buy more goods now.
Andrew Jonelis: So certain goods, you know, the supply and production is, limited, some kind of cycle, like, you know, agricultural crops. So in that case, you know, maybe the bulking strategy is better for this year with the raised uncertainty that’s trying to make it through this year.
Rosa: The future is uncertain for many local businesses across Central New York, but for Thanos Import Market, they just want to focus on one day at a time. In Syracuse, Rich Rosa, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — A family-owned import store in Syracuse is concerned about how tariffs will impact their business.
Thanos Import Market, located on the city’s North Side, offers a variety of imported goods, including olive oil, pasta, sauces, and assorted cheeses. The products come from Mediterranean and European countries.
Thanos Import Market is getting some of their cheeses from Italy. © 2025 Rich Rosa
Owner Joe Carni said he is relieved that the tariff percentage is lower than initially announced.
“Obviously, we feel a little bit better with the pause and that it’s only 10% instead of, you know, up to 50% and some that were being talked about for different regions,” Carni said.
Last week, President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs. Reciprocal tariffs are a tax or trade restriction that a country places on another in response to actions taken by that country.
According to NBC News, the pause applied to many countries, with the exception of China. Trump has increased the tariffs on China to 125%.
Despite the pause on higher tariffs, Thanos Import Market has started to bring in more goods from European countries, such as Greece and Italy, due to the concern about what prices could look like in the future. Carni said many local businesses are following what he is doing.
Thanos Import Market is getting their olive oil from Greece. © 2025 Rich Rosa
“I’ve talked to a number of different importers that in this period are bringing in as much as they possibly can at the rate now so that we don’t have to push off that cost on either us or to customers,” Carni said.
Syracuse University economics professor Andrew Jonelis said businesses will have to make a judgment call on whether to buy more goods now.
“So certain goods, you know, the supply and production are limited, some kind of cycle, like, you know, agricultural crops. So, in that case, you know, maybe the bulking strategy is better for this year with the raised uncertainty that’s trying to make it through this year,” Jonelis said.
Carni said that, in addition to the tariffs in place, other issues are occurring in certain countries where it is hard to get some of the products, leading to hold-ups.
Carni discussed that it’s already difficult to get products, such as olive oil and olives, from some European countries because of the ongoing droughts. He hopes there isn’t going to be a longer pause and getting certain items on time.
Carni said Thanos Import Market has been dealing with high prices since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with the 10% tariffs in effect, prices are fluctuating for different products.
“I think it varies on the product in the actual country that it’s coming from, because again, right now they’re saying it’s a positive 10% across the board. But when you get into the actual tariffs themselves, it sort of varies depending on the country,” Carni said.