Clear Comfort takes pride in its patented water-treatment systems used in swimming pools, at data centers and in watering troughs for thirsty livestock. It’s a more natural process of cleaning water that limits or eliminates toxic chemicals.
Another point of pride? Its products are made in the U.S.
Despite that, the Louisville company raised some prices last year due to the reciprocal tariffs, because locally made doesn’t always mean it’s untouched by global trade. Nearly 80% of the parts Clear Comfort needs to build its systems increased in price, and some unexpectedly, said Doug Inskeep, the company’s chief operating officer. A vendor in Greeley sources aluminum in the U.S. But the vendor’s costs rose after 50% tariffs on aluminum imports last year caused commodity prices to rise for everyone, no matter where the metal came from.
“We had quite a bit of resistance from some of our customers. ‘Hey, I thought your product was an American-made product,’” Inskeep said. “We do manufacture here in the U.S., but there’s raw goods and materials and all kinds of stuff that come from all over the world. We’re being impacted by that. It’s super difficult if you’ve got a product that has many parts to source it only in the U.S.”
The interconnectedness of the global economy made conscious uncoupling a challenge for many companies. But after a year of unprecedented change in international trade, many companies seem to have adjusted to one administration’s capriciousness, which changed again over the weekend.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs were illegal, Trump almost immediately ordered a new 10% tariff on all imports. He increased it to 15% a day later.
“At this point there are still a lot of unknowns, and what we hope for is stable and predictable business policy,” Inskeep said in an email Monday.
Moving manufacturing stateside
But Clear Comfort did make a big change in 2025. A part needed for spas and cold tubs that was made in China, the CCW25, is now made in the U.S. Last year’s tit-for-tat tariffs on Chinese imports — increasing to 54% on April 2 and then to 145% a week later — prompted Inskeep to hunt around to see if stateside manufacturing was possible.
He had looked before. But five years ago, no U.S. manufacturer was willing to take the small job. China won for its lower costs and expertise in tool manufacturing. So, Clear Comfort had a custom injection-molding machine built and hired a factory in China to fill orders about three to four times a year. Orders would take six to eight weeks to arrive, which was slow but predictable.
“All of a sudden (in early 2025), we had this product that was already in production, that we’d already paid for, and now could potentially cost us 150% more,” Inskeep said.
This time, he ended up finding a manufacturer in Idaho. The machine was boxed up and shipped to the U.S., which meant a sizable tariff since it was an import. It arrived in November, and Clear Comfort’s first order was completed around mid-December.
“I think we ended up paying about a 45% tariff, which was a heck of a lot better than 150. But it was still a huge impact for us to all of a sudden have to come up with an additional 45% to pay for that product when it hit the border,” Inskeep said. “So far, it’s working out well. We’ve gotten one big shipment from them. From that standpoint, the tariffs did really help us reevaluate.”
Like other businesses, adjusting to the tariffs was frustrating for Clear Comfort. But the biggest challenge was the unpredictability of when they would be raised, lowered, paused or raised again.
“If we had known that in six months, we’re going to impose these tariffs, then we could have planned for it,” he said. “We could maybe have located this manufacturer and moved the tooling. But because it was overnight, it was very difficult and continues to be difficult for us because (tariffs) continue to shift.”
Businesses want predictability
The Supreme Court ruling was prompted by lawsuits from businesses and states over the legality of the president setting tariff rates, instead of Congress. Several businesses sued for tariff refunds, including shoemaker Crocs in Broomfield, which said it paid $54 million “in excess of what they would have paid absent the tariffs imposed,” according to Crocs’ lawsuit.
Those lawsuits will be left up to lower courts. It’s unclear whether companies that didn’t sue will get any sort of refund, or if there will be any refunds at all. Grassroots consortium We Pay The Tariffs, which represents hundreds of small businesses, sent Trump and Congress a letter Friday demanding the tariffs be immediately refunded since many businesses had exhausted their cash reserves to pay the tariffs.
Scott Davis, CEO and cofounder of quantum-laser maker Vescent Technology, isn’t holding his breath. While Vescent manufacturers in Golden, some of its components come from China. Last year, timing was such that the company paid some pretty high tariffs, enough to decide to move some manufacturing to Denmark.
“We’re assuming there are not going to be any refunds. We’re moving forward even though there was a Supreme Court ruling that I agree with,” Davis said. “Tariffs are sort of the new normal, if you will.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Michael Bennet was one of four Democrats to propose the Tariff Refund Act of 2026. The bill seeks to force the Trump administration to refund the estimated $175 billion in revenue collected under the now-illegal tariff policy. The bill would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to coordinate with the Small Business Administration to provide refunds on unlawfully imposed tariffs within 180 days of its passage. The bill would need Republican support and the President’s signature.
Krimson Klover, a women’s outdoor clothing maker in Boulder, didn’t sue the Trump administration directly, but signed the We Pay The Tariffs’ letter. Gail Ross, Krimson’s chief operating officer, has been vocal about the impact of tariffs on small businesses even before last year. She testified in front of Congress in 2019, when Krimson faced 25% tariffs on imports from China during the first Trump administration.
In 2025, for the first time ever, the company increased the price of its apparel to customers who’d already ordered, Ross said.
“We took a very large hit and we passed a couple dollars on to our customers. So if they were buying a sweater for $250, we raised it to $253,” Ross said. “The reason it was so minimal was that we already had orders from them and we didn’t want to get cancellations. … We probably took two-thirds of the cost ourselves and then split the rest between our factories and our wonderful customers.”
As it turned out, Krimson Klover avoided the highest 145% rate on Chinese imports, which lasted about a month. That, Ross said, was “100% luck of the draw.” Ultimately, the highest tariff they paid last year was 37.5%. Had she known ahead of time, she would have been less frenetic because they could have planned for the exact rate whether they liked it or not.
She had looked into moving manufacturing to the U.S. during the last Trump administration, when the tariffs on Chinese imports were 25%. She reached out to a few companies and found one nearby.
“I had a factory in Denver — and we’re in Boulder — call me and say, ‘Well, Gail, do you want the good news or the bad news?’ And I said, ‘I’ll take the good news first.’ They said the pricing is not that far off from what you’re paying in China with the tariffs,” she said. “But what you can get out of China in four months would take us nine.”
The Denver factory didn’t have the equipment or staffing to fill Krimson’s orders. “And there was no small business loan for him so at the end of the day, it didn’t work out,” Ross said. Krimson ended up moving some manufacturing to Vietnam, when its China factory expanded.
“But the main point is if we really want business back in the states, if we really want production back in the states, there would be a plan,” she said. “It would include small business loans. It would include identifying areas that we know could easily bring back if X, Y and Z happened. There would be some notice, maybe some tax write-offs. If you can bring your production back to the states within 12 to 18 months, here’s what you get for doing it. Way possible. But that’s not happening.”
Colorado’s imports fell 2% as exports grew
Keeping track of the changing tariff rates on multiple countries may have been frustrating, expensive and exhausting.
But in the end, businesses kept businessing. Colorado’s exports grew 4.3%, while the value of the state’s imports fell 2% last year. Nationwide, imports grew 4.6%, while exports grew 5.7%, according to data from WiserTrade, a market research firm that tracks global trade.
Meanwhile, economist Brian Lewandowski pointed out, the first estimate of inflation-adjusted GDP components for 2025 came out Friday. The nation’s economy grew 1.4%, even though imports subtract from GDP.
“All the changes that were applied in 2025 and where did we end up at the end of the day? We’re still in this situation where imports hit a record high and exports also increased,” said Lewandowski, at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business. “For Colorado, I think some of the concerns weren’t that imports were going to drop dramatically. I think the worry was about the disruption to business, like the price impacts. So it wasn’t where are they going to source from — if it’s coffee cups or lids or more technical equipment — it’s how much is it going to cost?”
Costs did go up for many Colorado companies, according to conversations he’s had with businesses around the state. But that doesn’t mean they bought less. They likely passed on costs to customers or absorbed them.
“We expected it to dampen economic growth last year a lot more than it did, so that’s something that was sort of an upside surprise for us,” he said. “The economy was still pretty resilient through all of those changes. …We saw consumers continue to consume. We saw GDP continue to grow. We saw job growth slow, but continue to expand. Income was up, and so the economy performed pretty well, despite all of the changes.”
Moving to Denmark: “It’s just math, no politics.”
Davis, an entrepreneur with a background in physics, left New York and moved to Colorado decades ago because of the area’s universities and federal labs like the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder. He cofounded what is now Vescent Technologies in Golden. They make lasers used in atomic clocks and other quantum-technology products. Vescent manufactures in Colorado.
But just like other companies that make goods in America, Vescent faced the unintended consequences of high tariffs on certain countries, like China, where it sources materials. The company decided last year to move some manufacturing to Denmark, where it has an office.
“It’s also a bit frustrating because foreign competitors who are selling in the U.S., they’re buying from the same suppliers in China and other places. They don’t pay the tariffs. And then there’s just a nominal tariff for them to compete in the U.S.,” he said. “If we import from China into Denmark, you pay no tariffs. Then assembly or a product can be shipped to the U.S. and you only pay a 15% tariff rather than 55% going from China straight to the U.S.,” Davis said. “It’s just math, no politics.”
He said Vescent tried to get ahead of last year’s tariffs by ordering early. But timing was bad and they did get stuck paying some of last year’s highest tariffs, which at 145%, is 45% more than the cost of the item.
Vescent is committed to Colorado and will continue manufacturing in the U.S. But Davis worries about the future and the U.S.’s reputation as a leader in emerging markets, like quantum technology.
“I understand when you have unlevel playing fields you want to do something and I understand that tariffs are one of the levers that you can pull on. But business doesn’t like uncertainty,” he said. “It’s sort of messaging that we don’t want to do business with the world. And a worry is then you have other manufacturing powerhouses like China, saying the U.S. is giving you all these mixed messages saying they don’t want to do business with you. We will do business with you.”