Supreme Court tariff refunds: Minnesota congressional bill aims to help small businesses
MN small businesses seeking refunds on tariffs
Minnesota small businesses are seeking refunds after the Supreme Court ruled that the government needs to refund $166 billion in tariffs payments after finding said tariffs to be illegal. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard has more.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A proposed federal hotline could help small businesses still trying to recover tariff payments.
Small businesses feel tariff strain
According to the Center for American Progress, tariffs cost small businesses about $35 billion. Marshall said the damage at Mischief Toys has gone beyond the bill.
Local perspective:
Marshall said Mischief Toys lost Canadian suppliers that used to make fidget toys and can no longer get knitting kits it used to buy from England. He said he does not know if there is a way to repair those supplier relationships.
By the numbers:
The Supreme Court ruled the government needs to refund $166 billion worth of tariff payments after finding those tariffs were illegal. Target has already gotten back nearly $1 billion and Walmart got $2.9 billion.
Some small business owners have gotten money back too, but many are still confused by the process and feel left behind.
Proposed hotline aims to help
Morrison and two other members of Congress authored a bill to create a small business tariff relief hotline. The idea is to give owners a direct line to the Small Business Administration for help navigating refunds and reporting how tariffs are affecting them.
Why you should care:
Marshall said tariffs have made budgeting unpredictable and driven up prices at Mischief Toys. He said he pays a tariff premium on many purchases, but he is not the actual importer and could use help from a hotline.
"I think it would be incredibly helpful to have somebody at the federal level trying to keep track of what small businesses are going through as a result of these tariffs and also to answer some questions," said Marshall.
What's next:
"They don’t have the people power to put in to deal with this huge administrative burden that’s been layered on to all of their other challenges," said Morrison. "The Small Business Administration is supposed to be advocating for small businesses. And so they need to have the information that understand what small businesses are experiencing on the ground in real time."
Morrison told FOX 9 she thinks the issue is bipartisan and said she is hopeful the bill can pass during the lame duck congressional session because Republicans also want to help small businesses.
The Source: FOX 9's Corin Hoggard interviewed Rep. Kelly Morrison and Dan Marshall, and the story cites the Center for American Progress.