Scott Hennen’s interview with Aspire Optical owner Ashley Freeborn
FARGO, N.D. – The owner of Aspire Optical in Fargo has bought up to five months worth of frames and lenses because he says suppliers have increased prices by six to eight percent over uncertainty with President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Ashley Freeborn says he did this to offer customers the best possible prices.
“We don’t know when these trade deals will be finalized and these large companies don’t know when the trade deals will be finalized. In the meantime, obviously, their output costs are going up as they import products, but midterm to long-term there is uncertainty there,” Freeborn said.
Trump has imposed tariffs on many countries because he says he wants fair trade deals and more manufacturing to be done in the United States. He also wants countries like Mexico, China and Canada to crack down on fentanyl that’s being brought into the U.S. Trump has said he has secured trade deals with the United Kingdom and China in the last few weeks.
“There could be more lens production here. I would be surprised if long-term there was more frame production. I think there’s probably a lot of companies, manufactures out there looking at this like ‘Can I wait this out? Is this something that can be solved politically rather than us making the investment in manufacturing?’ I think you’ll see post the midterms whether or not that investment is going to come back,” Freeborn explained.
