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No Permanent Tariffs Letter
We Pay the Tariffs’ third letter urged Congress to curb presidential tariff authority and issue immediate refunds to affected businesses.
To the United States Congress:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Refund Letter
We Pay the Tariffs' second letter called on the Trump administration and Congress to provide full, automatic, and immediate refunds to American small businesses that paid billions in unlawful IEEPA tariffs later struck down by the Supreme Court.
To the President and the United States Congress:
Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) exceed the President’s lawful authority, we call on the Administration and Congress to ensure that American small businesses receive full, automatic, and fast refunds of all unlawfully collected tariff payments. As small businesses that form the backbone of the U.S. economy, we believe policymakers must know:
We paid the tariffs. We deserve our money back. American small businesses—not foreign governments—paid billions of dollars in IEEPA tariffs. We have dipped into personal savings, taken out high-interest loans, laid off employees, and cut wages to cover costs that were never lawfully imposed. Now that the Supreme Court has struck down these tariffs, every dollar collected must be returned.
Small businesses cannot fight for what they are owed. We do not have large legal departments or customs teams. We cannot afford to hire lawyers, navigate complex claims processes, or spend months filing paperwork to recover money that never should have been collected. The government has records of every tariff payment. Refunds must be automatic, meaning that they are issued directly to importers of record without requiring individual applications.
We cannot wait years for relief. Small businesses operate on tight margins and short timelines. Many of us have already exhausted our reserves. A refund that arrives in two or three years is not meaningful relief for a business struggling to make payroll today. For many of us, a timely refund is the difference between rehiring workers, restoring wages, and reinvesting in growth, or closing our doors for good. Refunds must be fast, measured in days or weeks, not months or years.
The Administration should direct Customs and Border Protection to begin issuing refunds immediately using existing payment records. If legislation is needed, Congress should act without delay. This is not a partisan issue. Every dollar refunded to a small business is a dollar injected back into American communities, creating jobs, supporting families, and strengthening Main Street.
We paid the tariffs. We are owed our money back, without having to fight for it, and without having to wait.
No Tariffs Letter
This was the first letter issued by We Pay the Tariffs in response to the Trump administration’s now-ruled illegal tariffs, highlighting the devastating impact on American small businesses, workers, and consumers while calling for the immediate end of the tariffs.
To whom it may concern:
The recently imposed tariffs threaten our businesses, workers, customers, and the entire U.S. economy. As small businesses that form the backbone of the U.S. economy, we believe policymakers must know:
We pay the tariffs. There is no “free tariff money” from foreigners. It comes from American businesses and creates nothing but bad options including: raising prices for our customers, laying off workers or cutting salaries and benefits, reducing investments, or taking high-interest loans. When even that is not enough, we will be forced to close.
Tariffs hurt small businesses most. We do not have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars available to pay the new tariffs. Products are ordered months in advance, and it often takes months more for us to be paid. Many orders will be canceled, eliminating prospects for future sales or profits.
Tariffs will cause irreparable harms. Years of hard work, late nights, and sweat equity to build our businesses, create good jobs, and contribute to our communities will be wiped out in the very near future. Waiting 6 or 12 months for a potential solution is not viable. Many of our businesses will no longer exist.
The President should immediately cancel the new tariffs. If the President will not, Congress should intervene to end all emergency tariffs and revoke the delegated authorities used to impose them. This is not a partisan issue. No individual – regardless of party – should be able to impose or remove hundreds of billions of taxes on a whim.
There is simply too much at stake for all Americans.
