Trade

CEO Spends 1.83 Million Amex Points to Pay Surprise Tariff Bill

A worker assembles a guitar pedal at the Electro-Harmonix manufacturing facility in New York on March 6.Photographer: David Cabrera/Bloomberg

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By Daniel Taub

July 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM UTC

Updated on

July 1, 2025 at 4:38 PM UTC

When a tariff bill for almost $11,000 arrived without warning, Robert Keeley reached for one of his last financial lifelines and cashed in 1.83 million American Express reward points to pay it.

“It’s like a needle pin holding back a crack in the dam,” said Keeley, who runs Keeley Electronics, a guitar-pedal manufacturer with 35 employees in Oklahoma City.