BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – For the first time in nearly 50 years a Westford small business is dealing with layoffs, and they say President Trump’s tariffs are to blame.
Vermont Sen. Peter Welch joined Rovers North on Monday to applaud the Supreme Court ruling last week that struck down those tariffs.
Rovers North sells Land Rover parts. The business says the extra costs of tariffs drove its sales down 30% and forced layoffs.
“It’s extremely difficult, you can’t run a business, you can’t plan when you don’t know what the tariff rates will be. Oftentimes, it comes down to the customs agent who’s doing the actual declaration. So, there’s an incredible amount of inconsistency and even the government websites won’t tell you what the actual tariff amount will be,” said Calef Letorney of Rovers North.
Welch called the tariffs reckless and an abuse of power that hurt Vermont businesses and consumers. He said the ruling reinforces that Congress is the only branch with constitutional authority to regulate tariffs.
“It is a restoration partially of the rule of law, where the president overreaches and does something that the constitution prohibits him from doing, and the Supreme Court pushed him back,” said Welch, D-Vermont.
Over the weekend, President Trump said he would raise global tariffs to 15%. The law Trump is relying on for that requires Congress to approve the duties within 150 days for them to remain in effect.
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