SAN ANTONIO – Vendors and fans packed the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center for San Japan this weekend, hunting for rare finds and showing off some creative cosplay.
The convention took place as thousands of vendors face additional tariffs as a result of a recent executive order.
Carley Cunningham, owner of Strawberry Moon in Corpus Christi, said small business owners are absorbing a lot of the extra price.
“It makes it really difficult, and right now we’re eating most of the tariff costs,” she said. “We mostly eat a lot of the shipping tariffs in general, and I’ve just been trying to keep it level. So our profit margin is even less than it normally is.”
Recently, President Trump signed an executive order banning the de minimis tariff rule. This allowed goods worth less than $800, coming from any country besides China or Hong Kong, to enter the U.S. tariff-free.
“Pokémon has doubled, tripled, quadrupled in price,” said Joshua Felice, owner of Coliseum Trading Cards and Collectibles. “I’m a collector. I’m seeing it too, and I’m like ‘No! Why?’”
Some cosplayers attending the convention said they often attend San Japan for the unique items vendors have to offer from Japan.
“I love people bringing stuff from all over to sell, and people bringing in stuff from Japan, it’s really cool to see,” Daniel Westerveld said.
“The local artists and local shop owners, I would rather pay a little higher to help them out, versus buying it online,” said Victoria Serrault dressed as Mothra from the Godzilla franchise.
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