LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Many Kentuckians may have to brace for higher prices on goods as tariffs, put in place by President Donald Trump, loom across the nation.

Kentucky heavily relies on imports and exports. The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce said when tariffs like these are imposed, no one wins.

“This is economically harmful to other countries, and it's economically harmful to us as well, which is one of the reasons why we strongly discourage the utilization of tariffs as a means to accomplish various policies,” said Charles Aull, executive director of the Center for Policy and Research.

Kentucky is mainly a manufacturing state, Aull said.

“Manufacturers are particularly prone to the impacts of tariffs," Aull said. "Agriculture is also heavily affected by tariffs." 

One of the biggest exports for the state is in the aerospace industry.

“When you look at $47 billion worth of exports, a significant chunk of that is coming from aerospace parts or exporting those things all over the world,” Aull said. 

With his role with the chamber, he said they're paying close attention to how businesses are reacting.

“I can tell you that the No. 1 thing we are seeing right now is massive uncertainty in terms of what to do because one of the key challenges with these tariffs is that we haven't seen a clear policy objective,” Aull said.

He said that will result in businesses freezing hiring and putting a hold on investing and pausing on increasing wages.

“Without some clarity on the intent of these tariffs, it really puts businesses in a difficult situation because they're not sure if these things are going to be here for a long time," Aull said. "If these are going to be short-lived ... the consequence of that is businesses sort of being paralyzed with uncertainty." 

Aull added most recent estimates project tariffs will cost the average Kentuckian up to $3,700 or more per year.