San Francisco’s Diwali festival helps artisans affected by tariffs

Monday marks the start of Diwali, the festival of light celebrated across the South Asian community.

Sunday, a Diwali festival in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset honored Indian culture, food, and tradition.

Sunday's Diwali festival was also a gift for artisans who import products from India. In August, president trump doubled tariffs on Indian imports, raising the cost to 50%.

Facing lower sales margins this year, Ankita Maheshwari, the owner of Indish Creations drove up from San Jose to be a vendor at the Outer Sunset Diwali festival.

She uses materials shipped from India in her handmade creations.

“I got one parcel and they charged me 70% of the price I paid for the material, so that was a lot, but I can’t increase my costs so much because customers don’t buy, so that's hitting hard,”