Tariffs up, prices down at Richmond’s Texas Inn

Jul 11, 2025 - 03:25

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Tariffs up, prices down at Richmond’s Texas Inn

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- As new tariffs threaten to raise the cost of imported goods, some Richmond businesses are making adjustments early.

At Texas Inn, management said they've lowered the cost of more than half of the restaurant's menu items by sourcing locally.

“Over the last year, we've been working with our vendors to kind of get some better pricing,” said manager Wendl Barton. “We have a local farm that we get our eggs from and the only things we really get outside of the United States would be our coffee and some of the produce.”

While tariffs are not the exact reason for the decision to lower prices, the move still comes as President Donald Trump imposes new tariffs on imported goods. On Monday, July 9, Trump increased tariffs on goods from Japan and South Korea -- but experts said those will mostly impact heavy industry products like cars and machinery.

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However, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) professor of Economics Stephen Day said Trump also threatened a 50% tax on Brazil -- one of the world’s largest exporters of coffee.

“Let’s say that 50% tariff goes into effect,” Day said. “Then bang — that’s a lot of coffee imports that get taxed.”

According to Day, the effective tax rate on goods entering the U.S. has risen from 2% to roughly 15% since Trump took office. However, he said the increases may not immediately hit consumers at local restaurants.

"You usually don't see changes in prices immediately based on global events -- they kind of sneak up on you," Day said. "So be on the lookout."

Texas Inn in Richmond. (Photo: Drew Covington/8News)

Barton said that, over the past few months, the only product Texas Inn has noticed a price increase in was eggs.

“They had gone over $200 a case,” Barton said. “We found more locally for $60 a case.”

She added that working with local vendors hasn’t just cut costs -- it’s also brought the community closer.

“We love our customers, we're very close to our customers -- we have a lot of regulars,” Barton said. “So anything we can do to make them happy and keep them coming back.”