TAMPA, Fla. — Local Tampa business owners are welcoming a major shift in trade policy after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 on Friday against President Donald Trump’s broad tariffs on imports. The court found the executive branch violated federal law by bypassing Congress to impose the trade restrictions.
The conservative-majority court ruled Trump exceeded his authority when he used an emergency clause from a 50-year-old law to impose tariffs on major trade partners without congressional approval.
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"I was a little surprised to see that the Supreme Court ruled against it," said Michael Snipes, an economics instructor at USF Sarasota-Manatee.
The ruling centers on the separation of powers between Congress, which has the authority to impose tariffs, and the president, who signs them into law.
"The policy of just having just sweeping tariffs across most of our major trade partners, that was pretty unprecedented," Snipes said. "But what the administration was doing was ordering tariffs on different countries through an emergency clause in a law that was passed 50 years ago."
Local businesses expect relief
The tariffs affected materials like steel and wood, as well as everyday goods, including coffee beans. Local business owners said they're optimistic about potential price relief.
"We should expect to see at least some price relief, some inflation relief, from these tariffs being repealed," Snipes said. "And I think that that's what most people are going to be interested in, is that we no longer have that additional tax. That's something that could put money back into our pockets."
At Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters, President Roberto Torres said the tariffs were particularly unusual for his industry.
"It was striking because typically coffee is exempt from any form of tariff because we cannot grow coffee in the United States outside of Hawaii and Puerto Rico," Torres said.
Since coffee cannot be grown in most of the United States, the company relies entirely on imported beans. Torres said they stopped buying coffee from countries like Brazil and Mexico due to expensive tariffs.
"We started looking at countries that had lesser tariffs like Ecuador and Guatemala, but for a tariff that didn't need to be there," Torres said.
Last year alone, Torres said the company paid about $75,000 more because of the tariffs, forcing them to raise coffee prices roughly 15% for customers.
Torres welcomed Friday's ruling.
"I think this is great," Torres said. "The next step should be to get our money back."
Consumer impact
Tampa consumers are saying they are also optimistic about the potential for lower prices.
"Certain products, i.e., cars, I think they'll become cheaper for me and more affordable," said Oliver Brown, who works at a construction company. "Living and working here in Tampa, everything's skyrocketing price wise, so removing the tariffs would definitely be beneficial for me."
The court noted that more than $130 billion was collected through the tariffs, but it remains unclear whether business owners will be able to apply for refunds.
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