European grocer in Massachusetts excited for prices to lower after Supreme Court strikes down tariffs
Businesses in Massachusetts are thrilled for staff to be less stressed and for prices to be lower after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's tariffs on Friday.
In a major decision, the US Supreme Court struck down many of President Donald Trump's tariffs, ruling 6-3 that the administration could not impose the tariffs under the emergency powers law used to enact them. The move has companies expecting lower prices on imported goods.
"We are only 16 months old, so we've only really seen the era of tariffs," says Celine Kimberly, owner of Nouvelle Maison, a French and European goods shop and coffee locale in Winchester, "We have definitely seen prices increase in some cases just by tariff, or a higher increase for additional admin work on the companies importing them."
Kimberly says the shop has had to stop carrying some of their most popular items because the prices have gone up so much, and in some cases started carrying goods from New England rather than France. But with roughly 3,000 different products in the store, it created a huge headache to do all of the paperwork and to pay higher prices.
"It will also reduce the stress on the team because every invoice we have to be checking every cost because it fluctuates all the time," says Kimberly, "Before tariffs, we used to work directly with certain suppliers in France, and send it through DHL and UPS. We would pay for the goods and DHL would make us pay the additional fee and admin costs."
Now she is excited to potentially see some of those prices drop, so they can bring some of those products back.
Jay Zagorsky, an economist at the Boston University Questrom School of Business, believes prices will drop at big box stores like Walmart and Target before hitting spots like Nouvelle Maison.
He wonders what will come of the $200 billion the administration says they raked in from tariffs. In particular, those companies that already raised prices to cover costs, but are now looking to get paid again.
"The Trump administration said that they have collected $200 billion dollars, and that's over about a 10-month period. Over an entire year, in per-person terms, they have collected around $650 per person. If many of those companies ask for a rebate, then those companies are going to get a windfall, and how is that actually going to get passed down to the consumer?" Zagorsky explained.
In the hours after the decision, President Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court, calling the justices "fools and lapdogs." He also said that he had signed an executive order to impose a 10% tariffs on all countries.
