• Ray Dalio said on X that Moody's credit downgrade doesn't cover the risks of government money printing.
• Moody's downgraded US credit to Aa1, citing growing deficits and ballooning interest payments.
• A GOP tax bill could worsen US debts, with proposed tax breaks and increased defense spending.

Billionaire investor Ray Dalio thinks Moody's recent downgrade of the US sovereign credit rating doesn't capture the danger of the federal government simply printing cash to cover its bills.

"You should know that credit ratings understate credit risks because they only rate the risk of the government not paying its debt," Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, warned said on X. "They don't include the greater risk that the countries in debt will print money to pay their debts thus causing holders of the bonds to suffer losses from the decreased value of the money they're getting."

"For those who care about the value of their money, the risks for US government debt are greater than the rating agencies are conveying," Dalio added.

Dalio's comments came after Moody's, the international financial services company, downgraded the US credit from Aaa to Aa1 on Friday, citing growing deficits and surging interest payments. That makes Moody's the last of the three major credit agencies to bump America's credit off the highest rating. S&P Global Ratings downgraded the US back in 2011, and Fitch Ratings followed suit in 2023.

In response to the downgrade, stocks slipped on Monday while Treasury yields spiked. The 30-year bond yield jumped 4.995%, and the 10-year bond yield rose to 4.521%.

Adding to investor concerns, economists are sounding the alarm on a tax cut bill proposed by Republicans that could come to pass given the slim GOP majorities in both the House and the Senate.

The bill proposes tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans through a higher estate tax exemption, interest tax breaks for private equity, and a $150 billion boost in defense spending. It also plans to increase the child tax credit by $500 and eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay.

Despite the bill also proposing spending cuts to Medicaid and SNAP and to hike taxes for immigrants, the Budget Lab at Yale, a nonpartisan policy research center, says that the GOP bill would worsen America's debt.

"The bill as currently proposed would substantially add to the deficit, even if accounting for possible tariff revenue," authors of the report wrote, "If we account for the likelihood that these provisions would become permanent, at the end of 30 years the debt-to-GDP ratio would be over 180%, even assuming substantial revenue from tariffs."

According to the report, Sudan and Japan are the only two countries with a debt-to-GDP ratio over 180%.

"Assuming temporary provisions expire, the bill's baseline cost of $3.4 trillion would make it the largest spending package in US history," the report added.

In a rare Sunday night vote on May 18, the GOP tax cut bill narrowly passed the House Budget Committee, which days before rejected the bill. The bill now heads to the House for a vote this week.

A spokesperson for Dalio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While President Donald Trump has agreed to target fiscal waste, he remains wary of his party's plans to pursue any additional cuts to Medicaid, a program he has consistently vowed to protect. In a collaboration between Politico and Business Insider, we explore how this clash is playing out on Capitol Hill.

• Americans who secretly work multiple remote jobs are finding ways to reduce their tax burdens.
• Some said establishing an S-Corp and maxing out their 401(k)s are among their top tax strategies.
• Others contribute to charities or deduct business expenses from their incomes.

Damien has secretly worked multiple remote jobs, earning six figures on and off for years. To reduce his hefty tax burden, he's used several strategies, including maxing out his 401(k).

Damien, who works in IT support, is on track to earn $386,000 this year from three full-time remote jobs, two of which are 1099 contractor roles. The earnings from his contract positions flow to an LLC he established in 2022, which he elected to be taxed as an S Corporation. This helps him reduce the amount he owes in self-employment taxes, he said.

"Tax wise, it's a substantial difference," said Damien, whose identity was verified by Business Insider but who asked to use a pseudonym, citing a fear of professional repercussions. "I would have to guess it's tens of thousands of dollars that I'm saving."

Damien is among the Americans who have secretly juggled multiple remote jobs to boost their incomes and who have found strategies to reduce their tax burdens. Others make charitable donations and deduct business expenses from their incomes. Over the past two years, BI has interviewed more than two dozen "overemployed" workers who've used their additional earnings to travel the world, buy weight-loss drugs, and pay down debt.

Six job jugglers shared their experiences on the condition that pseudonyms would be used, for fear of professional repercussions. BI has verified their identities and earnings.

To be sure, what works for these job jugglers may not make sense for everyone. Tax professionals can provide advice for specific situations.

S-corps and business deductions help job jugglers reduce their taxes

John, who works in IT, earned more than $300,000 in 2023 secretly working two remote jobs. His earnings from one contract job flow into his S-Corp, which he also uses to deduct business expenses, reducing his taxable income.

Business expenses include software subscriptions to ChatGPT, online programming courses, and the home office deduction, which allows him to deduct $5 per square foot of his home office.

"If I needed a new computer desk or chair, I'd run that through my business," said John, who is based in California.

To reduce his taxable income further, John said he donates to charitable organizations and makes significant 401(k) contributions.

Harrison also has an S-Corp, but his tax situation is more complicated. Harrison has six full-time remote jobs as a quality assurance professional in the IT sector and estimates he'll earn roughly $800,000 this year. He's built a team of seven workers who help him complete his duties.

Three of Harrison's jobs are contract roles, and he said the income for these flows into his S-Corp, which he said helps reduce his taxable income.

Lisa Greene-Lewis, a CPA and tax expert with TurboTax, said that S-Corps can help people legally reduce the amount they owe in self-employment taxes. Individuals are required to pay themselves a "reasonable" salary — which is subject to employment taxes — but then can take additional distributions from profits their companies generate that are not subject to these taxes. But she said there are limits to an S-Corp's tax benefits.

"In the eyes of the IRS, you could not pay yourself a majority of your business income to avoid more self-employment taxes," she said, adding, "If you pay yourself too little, the IRS could determine the amount they think you should be paid based on your business profit."

She added that S-Corp owners tend to have more tax prep-related expenses and must file a business tax return by March 1st, rather than the April 15 deadline for personal tax returns.

Despite the tax benefits that come with his S-Corp, Harrison said he tends to owe a significant amount of money in taxes. But he said he's still coming out ahead financially.

"Making more and paying more in taxes is better than making less and paying less," he said.

Some job jugglers accept their higher taxes

Adam earns roughly $170,000 annually secretly working two remote security risk jobs. He plans on reducing his taxable income this year by contributing $23,500 to his 401(k) — the maximum amount allowed by the IRS — and donating about $1,200 to charitable organizations.

However, not every job juggler is taking significant steps to reduce their taxable income. Daniel earns about $250,000 annually working two remote IT gigs in the finance industry. He said his main focus is withholding enough in taxes to ensure his tax payment isn't too steep.

"I've never had an issue with paying taxes," he said.

Kelly is on track to earn nearly $300,000 this year secretly working two full-time remote jobs as an engineer. She said her taxes aren't too complicated and finding ways to lower her taxable income isn't something she thinks too much about.

"I don't mind paying taxes on both jobs even if I owe," she said.

Do you have a story to share about secretly working multiple jobs or discovering an employee is doing so? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at jzinkula.29.

• Selling a property for profit typically results in paying capital gains tax.
• But there are ways to defer or avoid capital gains tax altogether.
• If you own property, look into 1031 exchanges and the Section 121 exclusion.

If you sell a property for more than you purchased it for, you'll typically owe capital gains tax on the profit.

The amount depends on factors like how long you owned the property and your taxable income, but it could be as high as 37% if you sell within a year and trigger short-term capital gains.

You could also avoid capital gains tax completely. CPA Kristel Espinosa highlighted two IRS rules that all property owners looking to reduce their tax bill should familiarize themselves with.

1. Defer taxes indefinitely with a 1031 exchange

A 1031 exchange — sometimes called a "like-kind" exchange — allows investors to avoid capital gains tax if they swap one investment property for another one of equal or higher value. This rule is specifically for investment properties, not for primary residences or vacation homes.

"It's a way to defer capital gains by reinvesting the proceeds into a like-kind property," said Espinosa, noting that this strategy is best for investors who plan to buy and hold real estate for the long term.

"It's not meant for people who just want to purchase real estate, flip it real quick, and then get another one. The whole point is getting the gain to be deferred into the future, so if you're constantly buying and selling and flipping properties, this 1031 game doesn't work."

You'll pay capital gains tax when you sell for good — there's no limit to the number of 1031 exchanges you do — but you can theoretically avoid capital gains tax indefinitely if you continue re-investing in like-kind rentals.

Espinosa said her clients use this strategy to diversify their portfolio or upgrade to a property with better cash flow.

There's a strict time limit on 1031 exchanges: You must identify your replacement property (or properties) in writing within 45 days of selling the first property. Then you must close on the replacement property within 180 days of your initial property sale.

Investor Zeona McIntyre told BI how she used a 1031 exchange to upgrade from a small, short-term rental property in St. Louis to a multifamily in Florida that produced stronger cash flow.

"A 1031 exchange allows you to defer your tax burden; a lot of people think, 'Oh, I don't pay any taxes,' but you're technically kicking the can down the road," McIntyre said. "The cool thing, though, is that you can do unlimited 1031 exchanges and infinitely kick it down the road. And then when you pass away, if you pass that on to someone else, like your children or a family member, the inherited home does not have the tax burden anymore. So it dies with you."

Another investor spoke to BI about his attempted 1031 exchange that ultimately failed because of the tight 180-day timeline.

"In my opinion, that's not enough time. I felt like I was rushed," said Steve Lewis, who owns properties in New Jersey and ended up walking away from the exchange and paying capital gains tax on the sale.

His major takeaway was that 180 days go by faster than you may think. While his failed 1031 experience may be "rare," he said, "there are so many things that could delay a closing." If you plan to do an exchange, his advice is to plan ahead as much as you possibly can for the next property purchase.

2. Exclude up to $500,000 of the gain of a home sale with the 121 exclusion

If you're a homeowner looking to sell, you may benefit from the Section 121 Exclusion, an IRS rule that lets taxpayers exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from the sale. A couple filing jointly can exclude up to $500,000. If you're an individual and sell your home for a gain of $200,000, for example, you won't have to pay capital gains tax on that amount.

There are a few stipulations: You must use the home as your primary residence for at least two of the five years preceding the sale. If you're selling a vacation home, for example, you can't use the exclusion. You can also only use the exclusion every two years.

This rule won't be applicable to new homeowners, said Espinosa, but it's a good option for people who have been in their primary residence for years and are looking to sell — and even applies to people who have turned their primary residence into a rental, as long as they satisfy the two-out-of-five-year rule. The two years don't have to be consecutive.

If your home profits more than $250,000 as an individual or $500,000 as a couple, you'll pay capital gains tax on the amount that exceeds the limit.

One couple explained to BI how they used the exclusion to avoid capital gains tax on each of their property sales. For years, Carl and Mindy Jensen did "live-in flips," in which they would live in a property while renovating it. They made sure to live in the property for at least two years to capitalize on the tax rule — at that point, they'd sell, avoid capital gains tax, and start their next live-in flip.

They used the exclusion for the first time in the early 2000s when they bought a home for $135,000, upgraded the carpet, walls, and bathrooms, and sold it for $235,000.

"Because we lived in it and owned it for two of the past five years, we paid no taxes on the capital gains," said Mindy. While their gains were around $100,000, they could have excluded up to $500,000 since they were both on the title.

"And then we did it again," she said. "We bought another house for $265,00 and sold it for $365,000, so we made another 100,000."

Thanks to the IRS rule, that $100,000 was also shielded from taxes.

• Sales for Shein and Temu slowed after Trump announced tariffs and de minimis changes.
• Shein's sales growth dropped significantly.
• The de minimis loophole remains open — for now.

Shein and Temu's sales slowed in the weeks after Trump announced tariffs and said he would close the de minimis loophole, February data from Earnest Analytics showed.

Shein seemed to take more of a hit than Temu. Between the weeks that ended February 1 and February 22, its sales growth slowed from 22% year over year to 9.6% year over year.

Temu's sales also decelerated, though at a slower rate, from 15.4% to 14.4%, which Earnest's head of marketing, Michael Maloof, said was in line with its usual weekly fluctuations. Earnest analyzes debit and credit card transactions from millions of US consumers.

By the week of March 1, Shein's sales growth was back up to 21.4% year over year.

The ups and downs demonstrate how closely US consumers are watching the news cycle — and could be a preview of what's to come when the Trump administration ends de minimis shipping for good.

"Nothing materially changed from an import perspective for Temu and Shein during February, and yet customers made fewer transactions during that period," Maloof told Business Insider. "The later recovery suggests this pullback could have been more news-driven than fundamentals-driven."

Representatives for Temu and Shein did not return a request for comment from BI.

The weeks when Shein's sales decelerated coincided with a series of whiplash moves in global trade.

In early February, Trump issued an executive order closing the de minimis loophole while imposing tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. (The administration has since rescinded some of the tariffs on Canada and Mexico). De minimis, also known as Section 321, is a provision of US customs law that allows retailers to import goods duty-free as long as they are valued at less than $800 and sent directly to customers.

The announcement that de minimis shipping would no longer be allowed sent much of the retail world into chaos. While Shein and Temu's use of de minimis brought the provision into the mainstream, many other brands selling directly to consumers also use the loophole to find cost savings.

US Customs and Border Protection said in a January press release that de minimis shipments increased by more than 600% from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2023, going from 139 million a year to more than 1 billion. More than 1.36 billion shipments were sent via de minimis in fiscal year 2024, according to CBP.

Just a few days after the executive order was issued, Trump issued a follow-up order saying that the loophole would remain open until customs officials could establish a new process for collecting duty on packages sent using the provision.

Logistics experts expect de minimis to go away soon, though the exact timing is still unclear.

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• Few large companies appear to have the appetite to make big acquisitions in healthcare this year.
• Startups desperate to sell may find better luck with other digital health companies flush with cash.
• Here are seven healthcare startups that look poised to make more deals in 2025.

Many healthcare startups and investors are hoping for a fresh wave of M&A in 2025 after a slow few years for company combinations — and the right buyers might just be their startup peers.

At the end of 2024, many healthcare startups were quietly raising down rounds and looking around for buyers to extend their lifespans, Business Insider reported in November.

While some startups are desperate for deals, nearly a dozen investors and bankers told BI in February that few large companies had the appetite to make big acquisitions in healthcare this year.

"In digital health, it's not necessarily that it doesn't make sense to consolidate — it's there's a lack of consolidators out there," said Aaron DeGagne, a senior healthcare analyst at PitchBook.

But those startups could find a new home with other digital health startups that are flush with cash. Several healthcare startups have been vocal about their M&A ambitions this year as they await dropping interest rates and are eager to jump on opportunities for inorganic growth.

These are seven healthcare startups that appear ready to make more acquisitions in 2025.

Caresyntax

Founded: 2013

Last fundraise: $180 million in Series C extension and growth debt expansion funding in August 2024.

The surgical software company Caresyntax is planning on using a fresh fundraise to power acquisitions.

Caresyntax, which combines information from surgical videos, medical records, and other sources to help make surgeries safer and more profitable, grabbed $180 million in August. In a release about the funding round, the company said it was looking to make several acquisitions in 2024 and beyond.

Josh Zeidman, Caresyntax's chief business officer, told BI the company was looking for acquisitions in areas such as surgical AI applications, video analytics, and data capture modules.

He said Caresyntax was primarily considering deals with venture-backed startups or other small private companies rather than with private equity or public companies.

Caresyntax said in its August release that it had acquired multiple surgical data and technology assets in 2023, though it didn't name those acquisitions. Zeidman told BI that Caresyntax's primary get in 2023 was acquiring the team behind health data consulting company CQInsights, including its CEO, Dr. Bruce Ramshaw, who became Caresyntax's chief medical informatics officer.

Commure

Founded: 2017

Last fundraise: $70 million from General Catalyst, as part of Commure's $6 billion merger with Athelas in October 2023

M&A is a core part of the healthcare startup Commure's playbook.

Commure, the health software company cofounded by General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja, has made seven acquisitions to date. Former employees told BI in September that Commure's leadership regularly touted the slogan "M&A is in our DNA."

Most recently, the startup bought the care coordination platform Memora Health in December.

Memora Health was another General Catalyst investment, as was Athelas, the revenue cycle management company Commure merged with in 2023.

Commure also announced in July a $139 million all-cash acquisition of the public medical scribing company Augmedix.

Commure didn't respond to requests for comment for this story.

Datavant

Founded: 2017

Last fundraise: Sixth Street and other investors contributed an undisclosed amount of funding in 2021 to support Datavant's $7 billion merger with Ciox Health.

The health data startup Datavant is hunting for more deals after kicking off a fresh M&A push in the fall.

CEO Kyle Armbrester told BI in January that the company, which has made 11 acquisitions since 2017, planned to make at least "one or two" more acquisitions in early 2025.

Datavant manages patient data exchanges between providers, payers, and life sciences organizations. The private equity firm New Mountain Capital is Datavant's controlling shareholder.

Datavant most recently made two deals in September: It bought the data privacy organization Trace Data and two data analytics products from the healthcare AI startup Apixio.

Armbrester said Datavant was looking for companies building technology for healthcare providers and life sciences organizations, especially those with existing market traction.

"We're large and diversified, and I think we're in a really good space to take a smaller smarter and apply their logic or artificial intelligence or analytics across that vast network to see a lot of benefit," Armbrester said.

Flare Capital Partners' Parth Desai told BI in December that he expected private-equity-backed healthcare companies to make tuck-in acquisitions in 2025 as they prepare for potential IPOs in 2026.

Hinge Health

Founded: 2014

Last fundraise: $400 million in Series E funding in October 2021

2025 could be the year that Hinge Health finally goes public. Multiple investors and bankers told BI in February that the physical therapy startup was the best choice for the year's first digital health IPO, with margins more closely resembling a software company than a healthcare services provider.

Hinge Health hired banks including Morgan Stanley last year to prepare for a public market debut, hoping to go public in early 2025, BI reported in September.

Those ambitions shouldn't preclude the startup from making acquisitions. Similar to Datavant, Hinge Health could look to notch some deals before an IPO to further its growth.

CEO Daniel Perez told BI in October 2023 that Hinge Health was actively looking for smaller companies to acquire, a sentiment the startup echoed to Endpoints News at the start of 2024.

The company hasn't announced any acquisitions since then.

Hinge Health declined to comment for this story.

Innovaccer

Founded: 2014

Last fundraise: $275 million in Series F funding in January 2025

Innovaccer is hoping to use a fresh mega-round to fuel acquisitions.

At the start of the year, the company announced its $275 million Series F round, a combination of primary and secondary investments from investors such as B Capital Group and Kaiser Permanente.

Less than two weeks later, Innovaccer announced it had bought the actuarial analytics startup Humbi AI.

Innovaccer also made two acquisitions last year, scooping up the healthcare marketing platform Cured in January 2024 and the pharmacy software company Pharmacy Quality Solutions that March.

The startup told Endpoints News this January that it was looking to buy more health tech companies this year. CEO Abhinav Shashank said Innovaccer was looking at companies working to enhance the patient experience, relieve administrative burdens for providers with automation, and decrease costs.

"Our acquisition strategy is to accelerate our roadmap by partnering with like-minded mission-driven companies that can help customers drive these transformations," Shashank said in a statement to BI.

Fabric

Founded: 2021

Last fundraise: $60 million in Series A funding in February 2024

Fabric, the only early-stage startup on this list, has centered M&A in its approach since its March 2023 launch. The healthcare startup said it planned to accelerate that strategy further this year.

Fabric made four acquisitions in 15 months, most recently buying the physician practice group TeamHealth's virtual care business in September. Before that, Fabric bought the virtual care business MeMD from Walmart, the asynchronous virtual care platform Zipnosis from Bright Health, and the generative AI startup Gyant.

Fabric sells software to help emergency rooms manage patients, including by directing them to telehealth services where appropriate. General Catalyst led its $60 million Series A round in February 2024.

Fabric's founder and CEO, Aniq Rahman, told BI in September that Fabric was starting to look at bigger acquisition targets.

"A lot of the companies that are struggling to go raise capital right now, or some of these larger businesses that are reevaluating their position in the market, are creating opportunities for us as well," he said. "Pretty much every week, there's inbound coming in from investors that are like, we have assets in our portfolio that may be accretive to what you're doing with Fabric."

Rahman told BI in February that Fabric expected to ramp up its M&A strategy even more in 2025.

He said Fabric had "already met with a few dozen companies this year around M&A" and was watching opportunities across venture-backed startups, private-equity-owned companies, and even spinouts of public companies.

Transcarent

Founded: 2020

Last fundraise: $126 million in Series D funding in May 2024

Transcarent, the healthcare benefits navigation startup helmed by Glen Tullman, the former Livongo CEO, kicked off the year with a big acquisition.

The company announced in January that it would buy its fellow care navigation company Accolade from the public markets in a $621 million all-cash deal.

It's one of at least three deals Transcarent has made to date. The startup bought 98point6's virtual care tech and physician group in March 2023 and merged with the surgical care startup BridgeHealth in 2020.

Transcarent's top M&A priority for 2025 is to successfully integrate Accolade into its business, CEO Glen Tullman told BI in a statement.

Still, he said the company remained strategically opportunistic and was consistently evaluating opportunities for growth and innovation.

Transcarent is backed by General Catalyst, which certainly hasn't shied away from M&A for its healthcare bets, as seen through Fabric and Commure's rich histories of acquisitions. Tullman's own investment firm, 7wire Ventures, also an investor in Transcarent, has similarly combined its own portfolio companies, most recently selling the mental health startup Caraway to the pediatric care company Summer Health in February.

General Catalyst and 7wire Ventures co-led Transcarent's $126 million Series D round in May.

• DTC brands say the sudden policy changes of the past weeks have had them in turmoil.
• Some businesses said the delay in the changes has made it even more difficult to plan.
• Retailers are in limbo until a timeline and implementation plan for the end of de mimimis is set.

Some brand owners feel like "collateral damage" in a global trade war after the Trump administration temporarily reversed its decision to end de minimis shipments. The sudden reversal was just the latest in a series of whiplash moves that have made it hard for brands to plan their next steps.

Jamie Ferguson-Woods is the founder and CEO of Victoria Emerson, a Canadian direct-to-consumer jewelry brand. When the Trump administration announced that it would be closing the de minimis loophole, Victoria Emerson halted its sales promotions and turned off its Meta ads.

Ferguson-Woods said the brand, which gets the vast majority of its sales from US consumers, would likely need to move its business to the US to survive. The delayed implementation gives them some much-needed time to get there.

"For a small business to move a warehouse, it's not something you can just do overnight," he told Business Insider.

For many brands, the uncertainty that ensued with Trump's executive order was a reminder of how razor-thin margins are in the retail business — and how easily disrupted their supply chains are.

Reuters reported that more than a million packages had piled up at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in the three days when the loophole was closed. Section 321, also known as de minimis, allows importers to avoid paying duty and tax on shipments that are valued at less than $800 and going directly to customers. Shippers using de minimis do not have to provide as much information to US Customs and Border Protection as shippers using more traditional methods would.

The mountain of packages prompted a meeting between CBP and logistics professionals, Reuters reported.

The Trump administration said it would pause its repeal of the de minimis loophole, giving customs officials time to implement a new process for collecting duty on packages sent using the loophole. However, it did not provide a timeline for when de minimis shipments would officially no longer be allowed, leaving brands wondering if they should still make adjustments to their supply chain — and when.

Some Canadian brands that sell to US customers are being hit particularly hard because they could face the double impact of tariffs on Canadian goods and the end of de minimis.

Katherine Homuth is the founder and CEO of SRTX, which manufactures tights under the Sheertex brand. Nearly half of the Canadian company's revenue comes from shipments to the US using the de minimis exemption.

When Trump issued an executive order on tariffs and de minimis, the company temporarily laid off 40% of its 350 employees. The team is now considering shifting some inventory to the US, but it would prefer to work with Canadian retailers and reduce its dependence on the US altogether. It's also working on sourcing yarn in the US to eliminate some of the tariff impact.

Homuth told BI the delay of the implementation "does not remove the risk," she said, adding: "In fact, it creates more uncertainty, making it harder to plan around these costs."

The return of de minimis wasn't the only time that brands experienced whiplash in recent weeks.

Tariffs on goods entering the US from both Canada and Mexico were delayed a month as the Trump administration negotiated with both countries. On February 4, the US Postal Service temporarily said it would not accept parcels from China or Hong Kong, only to reverse course less than a day later.

'All options are still on the table'

DTC bra brand ThirdLove fulfills its orders out of two different warehouses: one in Indianapolis and one in Vancouver. The company's senior director of operations, Andreas Andrea, said they had already been considering consolidating the two facilities to be more efficient. The tariffs and uncertainty around de minimis have made that decision more urgent.

"The question we've had this whole time is: which way do we go? Do we go all the way to Canada, put everything in Canada, assuming that Section 321 stays, or do we bring everything to the United States, assuming that it goes away?" he said.

"If it takes a year for it to go away or two years for it to go away, you've given up a lot of duty savings that you would've had. How do you predict what that timing is going to be like?"

"All options are still on the table," Andrea said.

The delays give brands time to troubleshoot, but some are finding that if tariffs were to go into effect as outlined, the hit to their profits would be steep.

Juliana Casale runs seltzer brand Balloon from Canada. She previously made a profit of about $18 per order, but tariffs and the end of de minimis would lower that profit to about $8 per order.

"I was considering lowering shipping costs or absorbing more of the cost myself," she said. "But it makes it a lot harder when I don't really have that much left on the profit to sink into that."

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