Minnesota auto, toy businesses evaluate Supreme Court ruling against Trump tariffs
A major setback for President Trump's tariffs has left Minnesota businesses and shoppers in limbo.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled Mr. Trump doesn't have the authority to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs on nearly every country under a federal emergency powers law. He fought back with a new 10% global tax, using a different power instead. Some economists fear the changes could lead to even more economic uncertainty.
Trent Eisenberg, Lisbon Twin City Auto vice president of operations, said tariffs on imported automotive parts have been stacking up. In an interview with WCCO on Friday, he pointed out a motor whose price had gone up 200%.
"About a year ago, they were about $430. They are still in current production. This isn't an item that is old or outdated. They're almost $1,000 today by the time we bring one into the United States," Trent Eisenberg, Lisbon Twin City Auto vice president of operations, said. "Have we been impacted? Probably. I can tell you that some of our stuff that's price conscious, it has been impacted."
The impact has ranged from Eisenberg's shop to Ryan Mackenthun's farm fields. He's traded soybeans for corn in an attempt to eat the cost.
"There's a ripple effect to every situation," Mackenthun said. "I think eventually people might start to feel that or see that in their personal lives or their personal pocketbooks."
Amy Saldanha is the owner of Kiddywampus, a Minnesota toy business. She told WCCO that she was excited about the federal ruling.
Saldanha added that her costs have gone up in the past year and that even if tariffs disappeared on Friday, she has so much inventory already moving that it'd take between six months and a year to see prices drop.
"This has caused a massive impact in our industry and I think it's going to take some time to sort out," Saldanha said.
The owners of Mischief Toy Store in St. Paul, Minnesota, rely on imported items.
"Ninety percent of what we sell in the store is gonna be made in China," Abigail Adelsheim-Marshall, co-owner of Mischief Toy Store, told WCCO.
Adelsheim-Marshall said that the president's sweeping global tariffs have been brutal. That's why they joined a lawsuit last year that argued the tariff on Chinese goods was "unlawful and unconstitutional."
"Most of our stuff has increased in price approximately 10 to 20%, and that's all going to be passed on to the consumer," Adelsheim-Marshall said.
They added that Mischief hasn't been able to order from European manufacturers or Canadian companies because of tariffs.
The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan group, calls the Trump tariffs the largest tax increase in more than 30 years. A recent analysis found that the tariffs would have cost the average household about $1,300 this year.
A survey by Small Business for America's Future found that 71% plan to raise prices to offset the Trump tariffs.