{"id":125023,"date":"2026-02-27T11:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T11:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/125023\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T11:38:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T11:38:07","slug":"pa-businesses-cheer-tariffs-decision-but-still-face-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/125023\/","title":{"rendered":"Pa. businesses cheer tariffs decision but still face issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of small businesses across the commonwealth paid billions of dollars under President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs, which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in a decision<\/a> late last week.<\/p>\n

Lancaster County glass and ceramic decorator Walt Rowen said he believed that the court \u201cgot it right,\u201d but noted there were still a lot of unanswered questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re still in an era of great uncertainty with tariffs,\u201d said Rowen, a third-generation owner of Susquehanna Glass Company in Columbia. \u201cNot only if there\u2019ll be a rebate but also, \u2018How do you plan going forward?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowen cited the possibility of new tariffs, which Trump said he would impose shortly after the ruling. On Friday, Trump said a universal 15% tariff would fall under a provision of the Trade Act of 1974, rather than the now-struck authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.<\/p>\n

The court decision holds that Congress alone has the power to tax, though Republican members have declined to roll back the tariffs and are working to codify them. Axios reports that $126 billion has been paid by Americans<\/a> since the tariffs were imposed, including a $4 billion cost for Pennsylvanians.<\/p>\n

The nation\u2019s highest court did not address how, or if, any of that collected money will be returned.<\/p>\n

Rowen said he didn\u2019t believe there had been a good justification for the tariffs or whether they had an economic benefit. He said purchasers paid the extra cost, rather than the impacted countries.<\/p>\n

Higher prices added to economic stress this last Christmas, he said, depressing sales \u201cthat affects businesses like mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is no way to run a worldwide economy,\u201d said Rowen. \u201cIt\u2019s just insanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tariffs impacted small businesses, farmers<\/p>\n

Business organizations, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have panned the tariffs, saying they \u201craise prices for consumers and businesses and harm economic growth.\u201d The chamber encourages free trade.<\/p>\n

The glassware purchased by Rowen for decorating comes from American companies, but the ceramic mugs or metal tumblers do not. Purchasing a mug, for example, used to cost $2 but now might cost as much as $2.50 \u2014 meaning a decorated mug price might go up from $10 to $12.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely increased our prices because we work on tight margins. We can\u2019t just absorb it,\u201d said Rowen.<\/p>\n

More than stock, the fast-changing tariff environment has also impacted client ordering, he added. One company that traditionally orders ornaments carved with children\u2019s names and dates delayed their usual summertime order to see what would happen. That hold up made it more difficult for Rowen to predict staffing.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone gets affected negatively with so much uncertainty,\u201d said Rowen.<\/p>\n

The Liberty Justice Center brought the case before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of small businesses, including Erie County-based FishUSA, which didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The Texas-based firm said it is now working to secure \u201crelief for affected businesses\u201d on its website<\/a>, which prompts visitors to share ways that \u201cunconstitutional tariffs (have) impacted your business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Liberty Justice Center\u2019s work is just beginning. We intend to help small businesses navigate the refund process, including developing a centralized database, information portal, and referral network to connect affected companies with qualified attorneys to pursue potential refund claims,\u201d said Sara Albrecht, the firm\u2019s chair, in a statement.<\/p>\n

Notably, the tariff rate and list of impacted countries has shifted several times, adding to the market chaos.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration sent $12 billion to farmers<\/a> in one-time payments to smooth out such economic disruptions<\/a>, specifically for those growing soybeans and corn. China, in particular, has stopped purchasing such crops from American growers \u2014 while tariffs have increased prices for machinery and fertilizer.<\/p>\n

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall thanked the administration<\/a> for payments, but pushed for \u201copen and fair markets\u201d to \u201crebuild the farm economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, trade disruptions and declining prices for agricultural goods created additional hardships for farmers who came into 2025 already dealing with crippling inflation and declining farm prices,\u201d said Duvall. \u201cWith supply costs already at or near record highs, we strongly encourage the president to avoid using any other available authorities to impose tariffs on agricultural inputs that would further increase costs. America\u2019s farmers and ranchers need stability to ensure families across America can put food on their tables.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more from our partners, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of small businesses across the commonwealth paid billions of dollars under President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cLiberation Day\u201d tariffs,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125024,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-125023","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-pennsylvania","9":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","10":"tag-pennsylvania-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}