Welch: “We are urging the Court to do something simple: read the Constitution.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, today joined Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Administration Ed Markey (D-Mass.), alongside Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Agriculture Committee Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and small business owners in condemning the negative impact of President Trump’s chaotic tariff policies on small businesses. The Senators and small business owners called on the Supreme Court to uphold previous court decisions and strike down Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose reckless, global tariffs.
“The small businesses that are so much the focus of community life, who do so much for the well-being of our communities that are under such pressure—it’s our small businesses, our bakers, our small farms, our small manufacturers—they’re getting hit every single day with something new on the tariff front,” said Senator Welch.
“Bottom line: there should be no tariffs unless Congress acts. What’s at stake here is the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances. Congress has the taxing authority—we can be held accountable if people don’t like the vote that we make. That’s been hijacked, not by an emergency, but by a presidential whim. We want the Supreme Court to do, really, the simplest thing possible, and that is stand up for enforcing the Constitution.”
Watch a livestream of the press conference below:
Vermont boasts nearly 82,000 small businesses, which represent 99% of all businesses in the state, and employ over 62% of Vermont’s overall workforce—higher than the national average. Small businesses in Vermont also employ a diverse workforce, with 43.8% of small businesses in the state owned by women and 6% owned by veterans.
President Trump’s turbulent changes and modifications to his tariff proposals and policies have been difficult to navigate for small businesses across the United States, especially in Vermont, where Canada is the state’s largest trading partner. Small business importers paid an average of $90,000 in tariffs from April to July. In June, 44% of small business owners reported a loss in revenue from the month before, and U.S. small businesses have reported average revenue losses of 13% as a result of Trump’s tariffs.
Additionally, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has projected that small businesses should expect to pay up to $202 billion annually as a result of Trump’s tariffs—nearly $856,000 per small business. These costs are ultimately passed onto consumers, where Trump’s tariffs are expected to cost U.S. households $2,400 annually.
Senator Welch is the leading sponsor of the CANADA Act, bipartisan legislation that would exempt United States-owned small businesses from tariffs imposed on Canada from the April 2 global tariff Executive Order. The Senator also voted in favor of bipartisan legislation to restrict the executive branch’s authority to impose tariffs through the IEEPA, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support last week.
The Senator has hosted roundtables in Stowe, Newport, St. Albans, Manchester, and virtually to hear concerns and first-hand stories from Vermont and Canadian businesses impacted by the trade war.
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