Pappas Introduces Legislation to Refund Small Businesses for Trump Tariffs
Last week, ahead of Small Business Saturday, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Congresswoman Kelly Morrison (MN-03) introduced new legislation, the Small Business RELIEF Act, to exempt small businesses from global baseline and reciprocal tariffs and to provide refunds to the small businesses that were forced to pay them. The Senate companion to this legislation is led by Senator Ed Markey.
Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the power to levy taxes and tariffs, not the President. During arguments in the tariff case brought by small businesses earlier this month, the Supreme Court expressed skepticism about the legality of Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs. Small importing businesses may be entitled to relief if the Supreme Court rules in favor of Main Street.
“In an entirely predictable outcome, President Trump’s tariffs have forced American small businesses to freeze hiring, hit pause on plans to expand, and cut their already tight budgets to keep their doors open,” said Congressman Pappas. “They can’t wait for a Supreme Court ruling or the end of this administration to get back on track. They need us to act now. That’s why we’re introducing the Small Business RELIEF Act, which would exempt all goods imported by small businesses from the Trump tariff tax and refund any tariffs they've paid. New Hampshire’s Main Street businesses are the heart of our communities, and we need to act now so that they can keep their doors open.”
Recently Pappas joined an effort calling for Speaker Johnson to immediately take up the bipartisan resolutions that passed the Senate last month to end the Trump Administration’s tariffs, which have worsened our nation’s affordability crisis, driven up costs for consumers, and pose an existential threat to our nation’s small businesses.
“President Trump’s tariffs have placed enormous financial strain and stress on so many hard-working small business owners, and it’s long overdue for Congress to act,” said Congresswoman Morrison. “I’ve heard from countless small business owners: small businesses desperately need relief from the Trump Administration’s tariffs. Congress needs to reclaim its Constitutional authority and right this wrong. I’m proud to lead the Small Business RELIEF Act and will keep working every day to bring much-needed relief to our small business owners.”
"Small businesses need relief from tariffs because tariffs put small firms at a competitive disadvantage relative to larger companies. Due to the thin margins on which many small businesses already operate, sweeping tariffs will force many small firms to pass higher costs on to customers. Larger businesses, however, are more likely to have flexibility to absorb increased overhead, keeping prices lower and undercutting their smaller competitors. There is no time to lose as far as small businesses are concerned, and lawmakers must act now to save small businesses from damaging tariffs," said John Arensmeyer, Founder and CEO, Small Business Majority.
"Small business owners have been sounding the alarm for months: President Trump’s so-called ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs are nothing more than an illegal tax on Main Street. They’re driving up costs, squeezing margins, and forcing entrepreneurs to make impossible choices between raising prices, cutting staff, or closing their doors. The Small Business RELIEF Act is a critical step toward righting those wrongs. Exempting small businesses from these reckless tariffs—and refunding the dollars already taken—will deliver immediate, overdue relief. Main Street Alliance strongly supports this legislation and urges members of Congress to stand with the small, independent businesses that form the backbone of our local economies,” said Richard Trent, Main Street Alliance Executive Director.
Background:
Congressman Pappas has loudly and strongly opposed President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on New Hampshire’s #1 trading partner, Canada, and other U.S. allies.
Pappas has signed two discharge petitions to force a vote on legislation to overturn the Administration’s harmful tariffs on Mexico and Canada, the U.S.’s two biggest trading partners, and introduced the Small Business Liberation Act and the CANADA Act in the House to exempt United States-owned small businesses from tariffs imposed by President Trump on his so-called ‘Liberation Day,’ and on trade with Canada respectively.
He is also a cosponsor of the Prevent Tariffs Abuse Act, which would amend IEEPA to explicitly state that the authority granted to the President under the Act does not include the authority to impose duties, tariffs, or quotas on imports to the US. Pappas joined an amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court in the matter of Oregon, et al., v. Trump, et al, standing up for Congress’s Article I legislative powers and arguing that Congress did not intend or provide for IEEPA to be used as a tariff statute.