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New Data Shows American Businesses Have Paid $265 Billion in Overall Presidential Tariffs & $151 Billion in Illegal IEEPA Tariffs
State by State "Liberation Day" View: Texas has paid $28 billion, Georgia $16 billion, Ohio $8.7 billion, and Florida $9.1 billion in presidential tariffs since March 2025. Businesses in all 50 states are still waiting for refunds of $151 billion in tariffs the Supreme Court ruled were illegally collected. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON, D.C. -- April 2, 2026 -- One year to the day after President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, new Census Bureau data shows
We Pay the Tariffs
Apr 2
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Small Business Stories
Running on Fumes: A 27-Year Business Pushed to the Brink
For nearly three decades, Wizard Industries, Inc., a small woman-owned business based in Ukiah, Utah, built its operations the way policymakers often say they want American businesses to operate—long-term investment, steady growth, and a commitment to keeping products flowing to customers. But over time, tariffs began to erode that foundation. “We are a small woman-owned USA business of 27 years. The tariffs from the first Trump administration began tearing us apart finan
We Pay the Tariffs
3 days ago
Closed by Tariffs: A 20-Year Business Comes to an End
For two decades, Sweet Home Industries in Batavia, Illinois, quietly contributed to the American economy as a one-person, family-run business. In 2025, that came to an end. “Our family business is a one-employee enterprise that for 20 years created value for the American economy. In 2025 the tariffs finally made business untenable, and we had to close our doors .” After years of staying afloat, the added cost of tariffs proved to be the breaking point. There were no margi
We Pay the Tariffs
3 days ago
Survival Mode: When Tariffs Hit Small Businesses First
For one small Texas company, tariffs weren’t an abstract policy debate—they were the difference between stability and survival. The business, just five people strong, imports parts from China and assembles their product in the United States. It’s the kind of operation policymakers often say they want to support: small, domestic assembly, value added at home, jobs rooted in the local economy. But when tariffs hit, that model quickly unraveled. “We only had one big import
We Pay the Tariffs
3 days ago
Tariffs Are Hitting Every Corner of Small Business—Even Your Local Coffee Shop
A small coffee roaster in Ohio is facing a reality many small businesses know well: rising tariff costs with no room to absorb them. As they explain: “We are a small coffee roaster in Ohio. We had to eat much of our cost increases. We ended up spending 67% more in inventory cost for green coffee but ended of the year with 40% less inventory . Not only did the tariffs increase our cost of goods, but the impact of the tariffs on the secondary market were devastating to o
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 25
Tariffs Didn’t Raise Costs—They Forced This Small Business to Downsize
Studio 2b, LLC, a small furniture importer based in Lakewood, Colorado, has paid over $15,000 in tariffs—and like many small businesses, they’ve had to absorb all of it . Their story shows how tariffs don’t just impact prices—they reshape businesses. As Studio 2b explains: “ We recently sold our building in Denver due to costs , we now have 2 smaller locations, we still work with clients and order furniture directly from the manufacturers, so we are the importer of recor
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 25
“Made in America” Still Means Paying the Tariffs
Hapco Inc., a 15-person plastics manufacturing company based in Baraboo, Wisconsin, represents exactly the kind of business tariffs are often supposed to protect: a domestic manufacturer creating products and jobs here in the United States. But their experience tells a very different story. As Hapco explains: “We are a small plastics manufacturing company that imports some products that are not made in the USA. We started importing several years ago and based pricing on d
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 25
Tariffs Hit Where You Least Expect Them
Tariffs don’t just affect manufacturers or importers. They can ripple across the economy in ways many people wouldn’t expect —affecting small businesses far removed from global trade. That’s what happened to Krug Development, a three-person company working on a new hotel project in Red Lodge, Montana . The company had ordered furniture, fixtures, and equipment (often called FFE in the hospitality industry) for the project well before the tariffs were announced. “We purc
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 16
“We Paid $1,210,152.45 in Illegal Tariffs”
For one small business in New Jersey, the impact of tariffs is not theoretical — it’s measured down to the cent. “The President’s comments that the foreign countries are paying these tariffs is completely wrong,” the owner says. “We have paid $1,210,152.45 since the tariffs were announced last April . We have absorbed a significant portion of these added costs , and it has hurt our overall sales” For a small business, absorbing more than $1.2 million in additional costs i
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 16
How tariffs can ripple across an entire small business
MMA International LLC, a small wholesale jewelry business in Austin, Texas with six employees, relies on a global network of suppliers to bring unique products to the U.S. market. “I import geographically specific products like Baltic amber from Poland, Ancient Roman glass from Israel, chain from Italy, and cultured pearls from China — products that simply could never wholly be made here,” the owner explains. “I buy from some domestic manufacturers as well.” When tariffs
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 16
Tariffs Drained This Small Business. Refunds Could Help It Recover.
For Speedway Shelters in Sequel, California, the impact of tariffs has been immediate and severe. The company has spent more than 18 years manufacturing motorcycle shelters , building a niche product and a loyal customer base over nearly two decades. But the sudden rise in tariffs dramatically increased the cost of bringing their products into the United States — threatening the financial stability of the business. “Speedway Shelters has been making motorcycle shelters for ov
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 10
Tariffs on the Ground: A Memphis Business Forced to Cut Back
For many small businesses, tariffs are often discussed in abstract terms — percentages, trade disputes, or geopolitical strategy. But for companies on the ground, the costs show up immediately in the form of higher bills, tighter cash flow, and difficult decisions about staffing and growth . One Memphis, Tennessee business has paid more than $250,000 in additional tariffs since April 2025. “Tariffs have hit us and our customers hard,” the company explains. “On a shipment
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 10
When Tariffs Threaten a Growing Business: 7P Solutions’ Story
At the start of 2025, 7P Solutions in Nashville, Indiana was doing exactly what policymakers often say they want small businesses to do: grow, hire, and invest in the future. “We ended 2024 as a strong, growing business and entered 2025 with incredible momentum,” the company explains. “In the first quarter of 2025 alone, we generated nearly three times our entire 2024 profit. We were building, hiring, investing, and planning for the future .” The trajectory was clear. The
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 10
“We Chewed Through Our Profits. Then Our Retirement.”
For Cat in the Bag, LLC in New Castle, Pennsylvania, the IEEPA tariffs were an existential threat. The company paid 50% tariffs for six months to receive inventory from India — resulting in between $60,000 and $70,000 in additional tariff costs . For a small business, that is not a margin squeeze. That is survival on the line. As the company explains: “Faced with this enormous increase in tariffs, we had options of abandoning our inventory in India and wrecking our rela
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 3
Paid Again and Again — and Still Paying More
Ganesh Himal Trading is a fair-trade import business that has worked with artisans in Nepal since 1984 . For more than 40 years, the business has operated on long-term relationships, ethical sourcing, and stable pricing for customers. That stability unraveled over the past year . Under the IEEPA tariff regime, Ganesh Himal Trading paid between $5,000 and $10,000 or more per shipment — and received six shipments subject to those tariffs . Each shipment meant another unexpec
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 3
$9,430 Paid. Now It Must Be Returned.
When Vargas, LLC, a small business in Arizona, paid $9,430.00 in additional tariffs under IEEPA , there was no choice. The candle and soap business absorbed months of rising material costs — wax, fragrance oils, packaging, and other essential inputs. Margins disappeared. Prices had to rise. Sales fell. Three production employees were laid off . Revenue collapsed. Now, the Supreme Court has struck down the IEEPA tariffs. That ruling was a critical victory. But for Vargas, LL
We Pay the Tariffs
Mar 3
Tariffs Are Raising Costs for a Michigan Manufacturer Making Products in the U.S.
A small manufacturer in Michigan designs and produces sewn products in the United States, supporting U.S. jobs and building products locally . Like many manufacturers, the company sources inputs from a mix of U.S. and international suppliers. But some of the materials they need simply aren’t available in the U.S. today . When tariffs raise the cost of those essential inputs, the impact is immediate. The added costs don’t reflect a change in how or where the company manufact
We Pay the Tariffs
Feb 10
An American Manufacturer Still Paying Tariffs on What the U.S. Doesn’t Make
In North Carolina, an eyewear company has been manufacturing in the United States for nearly eight decades: designing, producing, and assembling eyewear domestically. But even a company with that history can’t escape today’s tariff reality. As the business explained: “We are a fully integrated manufacturer of eyewear in the U.S. since 1947. We import a lot of raw materials and components that simply aren’t made in the U.S. ” That reality leaves the company paying tarif
We Pay the Tariffs
Feb 10
From 3% to 55%: Tariffs Are Overwhelming a Third-Generation Ohio Business
For a third-generation, family-owned company in Ohio that wholesales and manufactures equine products, tariffs have gone from a manageable cost to an existential threat. The business supplies equine products to many other small companies across the United States — a supply chain built over decades. Before 2018, tariffs averaged around 3%. That changed dramatically with the China Section 301 tariffs, which pushed rates to 25%. Now, the latest round of tariffs has pushed the
We Pay the Tariffs
Jan 20
A One-Person Shop, Squeezed by Rising Input Costs
A sole proprietor who designs and hand-builds craft amplifiers entirely in the United States expected that making products domestically would shield the business from trade disruptions. Instead, rising tariff-driven input costs have made it harder than ever to keep building here . Every amplifier is designed, assembled, and tested in the U.S. — but the electronic components required to build them are sourced globally, and many simply aren’t made domestically at any viable s
We Pay the Tariffs
Jan 20
Tariffs Are Shrinking Construction Pipelines for Small U.S. Manufacturers
For Harding Autoparts Systems (APS), a 12-employee company based in Denver, tariffs are doing far more than raising the cost of steel and equipment. They are shrinking the entire pipeline of construction projects the company depends on. Harding APS supplies mechanical parking systems and steel components used in real estate developments nationwide. This year, the company has paid over $500,000 in additional tariffs — but the most damaging impact is what happens after those
We Pay the Tariffs
Jan 20
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