Senators: “Simple fairness demands that the financial burden imposed on small businesses and working families not become a windfall for the largest corporate balance sheets.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., today demanded that big businesses and corporations use any tariff refunds they receive to compensate small businesses and U.S. consumers for any costs they incurred from Donald Trump’s reckless tariffs.
Trump’s trade war and reckless tariffs have resulted in higher prices, lost jobs, and chaos for businesses up and down the supply chain. Estimates show the average U.S. family paid nearly $2,000 because of the tariffs. If large corporations that passed along tariff costs are receiving refunds, it is imperative that consumers and small businesses who bore some of those costs are made whole.
“American consumers and small businesses did not choose to pay these tariffs, and the Supreme Court has confirmed that the tariffs were unlawful,” Wyden and Schumer wrote to Suzanne Clark, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Simple fairness demands that the financial burden imposed on small businesses and working families not become a windfall for the largest corporate balance sheets. Companies that passed along tariff costs should pass along savings from tariff refunds.”
This letter comes following an order from the Court of International Trade directing the Trump administration to cease delays and begin issuing refunds of the tariffs recently struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The order follows nearly two weeks of stalling by the Trump administration, which has tried to withhold refunds of tariffs they illegally collected from U.S. businesses.
The text of the letter is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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