As Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Trump’s Tariffs, Welch and Colleagues Join Small Businesses to Decry Trade War

Nov 5, 2025
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 joinedRanking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Administration Ed Markey (D-Mass.), alongsideRanking 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 theInternational 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 hitevery single daywith 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 conferencebelow:
Vermont boasts nearly82,000small businesses, which represent99%of all businesses in the state, and employ over62%of Vermont’s overall workforce—higher than the national average. Small businesses in Vermont also employ a diverse workforce, with43.8%of small businesses in the state owned by women and6%owned by veterans.
President Trump’sturbulent changes and modificationsto 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 of13%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 annuallyas 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$2,400annually.
Senator Welch is the leading sponsor of theCANADA 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 ofbipartisan legislationto restrict the executive branch’s authority to impose tariffs through theIEEPA,whichpassed the Senatewith bipartisan support last week.
The Senator has hosted roundtables inStowe,Newport,St. Albans,Manchester, andvirtuallyto hear concerns and first-hand stories from Vermont and Canadian businesses impacted by the trade war.
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