CEO spends 1.83 million Amex points to pay surprise tariff bill

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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. Keeley’s scramble is part of a broader reckoning for America’s smaller businesses, which are being whipsawed by volatile trade policies. Another blow could land on July 9, the deadline President Donald Trump has imposed on other countries to secure trade deals...