Small Businesses Prevail in Fight Against Emergency Tariffs
Main Street Alliance Calls for Full Refunds to Small Business Owners
Washington, D.C. — Main Street Alliance (MSA), a national network of small business owners, today welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6–3 ruling striking down President Trump’s sweeping tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The Court upheld lower court decisions finding that the administration exceeded its authority by invoking a 1977 law intended for national emergencies to impose so called “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every foreign trading partner. The tariffs were justified as a response to trade deficits and fentanyl trafficking, but businesses and 12 U.S. states challenged the move as an unprecedented expansion of executive power.
In rejecting the use of IEEPA as a broad trade tool, the Court delivered a significant rebuke to one of the most aggressive assertions of presidential economic authority in modern history. The ruling carries major implications for global markets and domestic businesses.
For small businesses, the decision confirms what they have been saying all year:
Tariffs are a tax. And small businesses and consumers pay it, not foreign governments.
“All year long, through our Main Street Media Desk and our advocacy on Capitol Hill, our members have been clear. This was a raw deal,” said Richard Trent, Executive Director of Main Street Alliance. “They were forced to absorb higher costs or pass them on to customers. That is not economic strength. That is a squeeze on Main Street.”
The Damage Was Real
MSA’s national Tariff Impact Survey found:
81.5% of small businesses raised prices to offset tariff costs
31.5% anticipated layoffs
41.7% delayed expansion
Only 14.6% could realistically shift production to the United States
Many businesses faced tariff rates exceeding 100 percent, with no phase-in period and constant revisions. In some cases, rates moved from 104 percent to 125 percent to 145 percent within days, creating planning paralysis for manufacturers, retailers, restaurants, and service businesses.
“Our members were not just facing higher costs. They were facing chaos,” Trent said. “You cannot build a factory in two weeks. You cannot grow coffee in Minnesota. And you cannot plan payroll when tariff rates change overnight.”
Economists estimate that more than $175 billion was collected under the IEEPA-based tariff regime. With the Supreme Court rejecting the legal authority behind those collections, attention now turns to what happens next.
Refund Main Street
“If the authority was unlawful, the collections were unlawful,” Trent said. “Every penny taken from small businesses under this framework should be returned.”
Main Street Alliance is working with lawmakers to pursue reimbursement mechanisms, building on bipartisan proposals previously introduced to refund small businesses harmed by tariff overreach.
Refunds would:
Restore working capital
Stabilize hiring and investment
Help ease inflationary pressure that tariffs helped entrench
Main Street Led This Fight
Over the past year, Main Street Alliance members testified before the Senate Small Business Committee, organized press conferences with Senate leadership, appeared on CNN, NPR, MSNBC, CBS, and in the New York Times, and helped shape bipartisan legislation to limit executive tariff powers.
“Small business owners were told tariffs would make America stronger,” Trent said. “Instead, they saw margins collapse, hiring freeze, and uncertainty spike. They spoke up. Lawmakers listened. And today, the Supreme Court affirmed that executive power has limits.”
Main Street Alliance will continue advocating for predictable trade policy, transparent economic governance, and economic rules that strengthen rather than destabilize local businesses.
About Main Street Alliance
Main Street Alliance is a national network of 30,000 small business owners organizing to reclaim economic and political power for local communities. We know what’s really happening in our neighborhoods because we live it every day. Together, we’re driving the economic conversation too often dominated by massive corporations, winning policies that let small businesses thrive, and plugging entrepreneurs back into civic life that’s excluded us.
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