The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, a final ruling in a case that originated with a lawsuit brought by a Burlington-based women’s cycling gear company.
Terry Precision Cycling was one of five American businesses waging a legal challenge to Trump’s signature economic policy. Several states, including Vermont, also sued. They argued that Trump exceeded his authority last year when invoking an emergency powers law to impose tariffs on imported goods from nearly all U.S. trading partners.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the law cited by the president does not give him the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs of “unlimited amount, duration, and scope” without Congressional approval.
The decision, which upholds two previous lower court rulings, deals a major blow to Trump’s political agenda and will spur a legal fight over whether companies that paid tariffs will receive refunds.
A Texas law firm, the Liberty Justice Center, recruited Terry Precision Cycling for the lawsuit ahead of its filing last April.
CEO Nik Holm told Seven Days late last year that his company was a prime example of how the tariffs were negatively impacting American businesses, as Terry constantly imports raw materials for its American-made products. He estimated that the tariffs would cost his company more than $200,000 in 2025 and double that this year.
In a phone call on Friday, Holm called the Supreme Court decision a “great moment for America and small companies.” He said he and the other plaintiffs are still sorting through the ruling’s full ramifications but that they fully intend to pursue refunds.
“We’ve been waiting for this day for some time,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) also applauded the decision, saying in a statement that Trump’s trade war has created “chaos and economic pain” for families across the U.S.
He, too, called on the federal government to pay back the levies it collected under the now-stricken tariffs.
“The next step must be doing right by Americans — including small businesses and farmers in Vermont — harmed by Trump’s economic wrongdoings,” he wrote.
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