To the United States Congress:

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While the Supreme Court ruled the IEEPA tariffs unlawful, and the Court of International Trade ruled the Section 122 tariffs unlawful, the most consequential tariffs may be ahead. As small businesses that form the backbone of the U.S. economy, we know that the Administration’s planned Section 301 and 232 tariffs will be more permanent and difficult to reverse, and their impacts threaten to dwarf all previous rounds of tariffs. 

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Once new tariffs take effect, history shows they are rarely undone. The Section 301 statute says tariffs should terminate after four years. Yet Section 301 tariffs imposed by the first Trump Administration in 2018 were continued by the Biden Administration, and remain in effect today. So do many Section 232 tariffs imposed in 2018 and expanded upon in 2025. There is no reason to expect this pattern to change. 

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Permanent tariffs will deepen the affordability crisis. Prices cannot come down while tariff increases are embedded into every supply chain. Hiring cannot recover while small businesses brace for the next tariff bill. Manufacturing employment has been falling across the country. Permanent Section 301 and 232 tariffs will lock in higher costs for American families and lead to fewer jobs for American workers for years to come.

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Refunds of illegal tariffs cannot make us whole; we need permanent tariff relief. In addition to requiring small businesses to make illegal payments to the government, the IEEPA and Section 122 tariffs also resulted in canceled orders, high-interest loans, layoffs, and pay cuts. Refunds can help undo some of the damage, but not as much as they should. Many refunds will be set aside to cover expected future Section 301 and 232 tariff bills.

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Congress must act before more Section 301 and 232 tariffs take effect. This is not a partisan issue. Tariffs are deeply and broadly unpopular with American voters. They are hurting small businesses in every state. Tariffs are taxes, and no President should be able to unilaterally impose hundreds of billions in permanent new taxes without a vote of Congress. 

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We paid – and will be forced to keep paying – the tariffs. We need Congress to act now, before a permanent tariff regime is imposed on small businesses across America.