It was bound to come to the U.S. Supreme Court. Whether President Donald Trump’s penchant for tariffs are the Chief Executive delivering on a campaign promise or whether they are unprecedented overreach is the all-important question poised to come before the nation’s high court.
Justices – three of whom were appointed by Trump – will hear oral arguments on Wednesday, Nov. 5 from a coalition of small businesses who say, yes, the tariffs have triggered global economic uncertainty, but they are also crippling the livelihoods of countless American families.
“Here’s what we’ve been up against so far this year: we’ve paid about $300,000 of hard cash in unplanned tariffs,” said Cassie Abel, CEO and Founder of Ketchum–based Wild Rye, a leader in designing ski and mountain bike apparel for women.
Abel’s comments came during an Oct. 29 media call, hosted by We Pay the Tariffs, a coalition of 700 small and micro-businesses.
Abel is one of several U.S. small businesses who have filed an official brief with the Supreme Court, prior to the hearing. She said her business, and others, are being punished simply because they have global partners.
“The supply chain for what we produce just doesn’t exist here in the U.S.,” said Abel. “The skilled labor [we require] doesn’t exist here in the U.S., and it would take generations to rebuild that supply chain.”
After starting and building Wild Rye into a successful Idaho business with customers around the world, Abel now said she can’t be thinking about expanding or hiring right now. It’s more about keeping the lights on.
“We are no longer investing into product innovation. We’re not investing in new hires. We’re not investing into growth,” she said. “We’re just spending our money trying to stay afloat through this. Every tariff increase means the risk of losing my home. It means that it’s becoming longer to pay off debt with high interest rates. My family’s housing is at stake in addition to everything else.”
Regarding the upcoming Supreme Court hearing, Reuters reports, “Large U.S. Companies have stayed on the sidelines of the tariffs litigation.”
By contrast it will be small businesses this week that have agreed to serve as plaintiffs in what will likely be one of the most important Supreme Court hearings in recent memory, according to Reuters.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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