Small businesses despise Trump’s tariffs — for good reason
Research shows that around half of all U.S. tariffs were absorbed by importers last year instead of passed on to customers and end-consumers.
Within hours of the Trump administration's most recent tariff plan taking effect on July 24, the government faced legal challenges once again from small businesses that had previously thwarted similar White House tariff tactics, notably at the Supreme Court. These businesses form an "ever-growing group of small business owners who have become the emblem of small-scale opposition to tariffs," according to Bloomberg Law.
Major corporations such as Walmart and Ford Motor have largely remained silent on the issue. This reluctance, the report suggests, is a calculated strategy: large U.S. firms do not favor the tariffs but prefer to express their dissent through industry associations and legal actions to prevent backlash from the government or partisan customers.
This approach, the report contends, makes strategic sense given President Donald Trump's tendency to target companies that criticize his tariffs, highlight their price impacts, or request refunds following the Supreme Court's defeat.
Recognizing the potential for significant stock market fluctuations resulting from a single presidential tweet, many large companies opt to allow smaller, more empathetic businesses to bear the brunt, as explained by a trade lawyer.
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
