It is tough enough to manage a small business, but Norfolk wine shop owner Kiera Hill said the insecurity of tariffs makes it even harder.

She and other Hampton Roads business owners said President Donald Trump’s proposed 200% tariff on wine and liquor imported from the European Union would be incompatible with their small business models. The proposed tax, which Trump announced on social media, is in response to the European Union’s plans for a 50% tariff on American whiskey. According to The New York Times , the proposed tariffs from both sides could start in April.

“It would be massively detrimental to the style of business we run,” Hill said.

Increased costs would trickle down, she said, with wineries, importers, distributors, retailers and customers all taking a hit.

And Hill said her shop doesn’t have the funds nor the space to stock up on six months worth of wine to get ahead of potential tariffs.

She started Vino Culture Wine Shop more than six years ago. Three years in, she opened her less than 1,000-square-foot shop within Selden Market, rotating her selection of 250 European-focused wine products.

Ultimately, Hill said her business would have to pivot to domestic wines and a more New World focus, importing wine from South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

One of Hill’s distributors is Marco Martire, owner of Wine Drops Imports, a family-owned and -operated business in Virginia Beach. The importer of highly awarded boutique wines from Italy said he is trying to remain optimistic that talks will not amount to such a high tariff and the wine will keep flowing.

“With a 200% tariff, nobody is going to drink wine or alcohol anymore in the United States,” he said. “The market’s going to be disrupted completely.”

Jeff Shinabarger, who has owned Great Bottles in Suffolk for the past six years, said the threatened tariff would make it cost-prohibitive to buy European wines.

“It’s going to raise the prices of all foreign European wines to the point where we just won’t be able to sell them,” he said.

Ultimately, Shinabarger said he would have to pass the inflated expenses on to the consumer.

Shaina Daniel owns Tinto Wine & Cheese, which has locations in Newport News and Chesapeake and two in Virginia Beach. She said the proposed tariff could be devastating to small businesses like hers.

Tinto primarily focuses on European wines from Italy, France, Portugal and Spain, Daniel said. The store also brings in products from Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, Austria and Greece.

“That’s the heart of where wine is from and the history of this product,” she said.

Daniel said Tinto is already operating on very thin margins — between trying to refill the coffers drained during the pandemic, the increased cost of minimum wage and higher food costs.

“So, for example, if a wine I buy today costs me $10 and in May costs me $25, my customers are not going to be interested in paying twice or three times the amount of that,” she said.

Daniel said her small business doesn’t have the purchase power nor the warehouse storage to minimize impacts by buying by the pallet.

“What is on the shelf is what we have,” Daniel said.

She was eager to remind people that buying local means supporting the community.

“Now more than ever, it’s important to remember that,” she said. “And if you haven’t been into your small wine shop yet, come today. We’ll be glad to see you.”