As 2025 draws to a close, the tariff landscape that roiled Corridor businesses earlier this year continues to reshape operations, though impacts vary significantly across sectors.
For Eco Lips, initial fears have materialized into daily reality. After depleting a 12-month supply of domestically-stocked raw materials, the Cedar Rapids cosmetics manufacturer now faces an average 10% price increase on new purchases, with some essential oils seeing tariffs between 15% and 50%. Key ingredients like cocoa butter and shea butter incur 15% tariffs, while coconut oil faces a 19% tariff. Some suppliers have begun withholding export volume in retaliation.
“The unpredictability of it is what I’m fearful of,” said Steve Shriver, founder and CEO.
The company has raised prices across both its contract manufacturing and retail operations, reformulated products to accommodate ingredient changes, and cut sales and marketing expenses to protect margins. Combined with a 19% insurance increase, the weekly “tariff task force” has dissolved into constant operational triage.
Crystal Group has successfully maintained its domestic-focused sourcing strategy without passing tariff costs to customers.
“That foundation has helped us navigate shifting costs and global pressures,” said supply chain director Katie Wagner in an email to the CBJ. “At the end of the day, it comes down to doing right by the people who rely on us.”
CIVCO Medical Solutions reports minimal direct impact, with most raw materials sourced domestically. However, President Robin Therme identifies a larger concern: shifting competitive dynamics as international customers increasingly turn to Chinese manufacturers gaining ground in previously limited markets.
“This changing landscape underscores the importance of balanced trade policies that maintain a level playing field and continue to support U.S. innovation and competitiveness abroad,” Ms. Therme said in an email to the CBJ.
The common thread? Uncertainty persists, and 2026 may bring even greater challenges as companies exhaust initial buffers and navigate an evolving international trade environment.
This update is a part of the CBJ’s Newsmakers edition. This year-end wrap-up from the staff of the Corridor Business Journal is a compilation of the year’s most noteworthy articles and projects, as told through stories that appeared in the bi-weekly issues of the CBJ.
Read the accompanying story, published in June of 2025:
Tariffs in the spotlight: Corridor firms address concerns, possible approaches
