How a comic book store got swept into the tariff storm

Marc Bowker, owner of Alter Ego Comics in Lima, Ohio, says tariffs have created stress and uncertainty for his small business. Maddie McGarvey for NPR hide caption

Marc Bowker in Lima, Ohio wants his comic book store, Alter Ego Comics, to be an alternate reality escape from real world troubles, just as the name says.

Life-size models of Darth Vader and R2-D2 stand at the entrance ahead of a wall of more than 200 comics.

But these days, the reality of tariffs has encroached into that escape that Bowker seeks to offer.

"It's become a challenge to try and remain stoic and focus on the four walls of my shop when it seems like the world is on fire," he says.

For nearly a year and a half, small business owners like Bowker have dealt with both the financial cost and uncertainty caused by tariffs.

Bowker is concerned about an escalating trade war with Canada increasing tariff costs. Maddie McGarvey for NPR hide caption

And now, Bowker is also dealing with how to seek tariff refunds after some of the import taxes he paid were struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year – and facing the prospect that an escalating trade war with Canada could soon drag him into another tariff storm.