Some of Trump’s cost-raising tariffs were struck down last week, and you could feel the collective sigh of relief around the country. 

Ann Robinson, who owns the Scottish Gourmet grocery store in Greensboro, was ecstatic. She said she “did a happy dance” when she heard the news, and joked that it’s “time to schedule my ‘Say Goodbye to Tariffs Sale!’” 

Why was she so happy? Because like all of us, she’s been eating the cost of tariffs for roughly a year now. And they’ve been expensive– $30,000 for Ann’s small business in the fall season alone. 

We’ve all been feeling the pain caused by tariffs. The average family lost $1,700 as a result of Trump’s tariffs last year. In fact, tariffs cost the average family roughly two to three times the size of any tax refund they will receive from the “Big Beautiful Bill” passed last summer. 

Trump’s tariffs were projected to wipe out nearly a third of North Carolina farmers’ income and cause 8,000 people to lose their jobs. And with the costs of health care, housing, and child care all rising too– we all felt some of that weight lifted when the Supreme Court ruled Trump’s price increases to be illegal. 

But like many of us, Ann’s joy faded when Trump responded to the Supreme Court ruling by implementing a new 10% global tariff, with the intention of upping it to 15%. 

“The ground is shifting underneath me. I don’t know– there’s nothing firm about anything we’re doing right now. And I’m growing fast. I need to hire. But I’m going to hold off until I see what happens here.” 

Sam Ratto, owner of Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh, estimates that he paid between $50,000 and $100,000 in tariffs over the past year. Cocoa, packaging materials, you name it– Trump’s tariffs made it more expensive for Sam to just keep his doors open. And while he’s grateful that the Supreme Court ruled these tariffs illegal, he still expressed regret over the employees he had to let go in order to stay afloat. 

The Supreme Court ruling provides some relief, but Trump remains hell-bent on raising costs through tariffs. And the brutal thing about this approach is that it hurts the hard-working people who are the most essential to our economy. 

The massive corporations, the ones who can take advantage of tax loopholes and automate their labor force– they can take the hit. It’s the small businesses, the ones led by our neighbors, that are harmed the most. 

It’s the coffee shop you’re excited to go to on a Saturday morning, the new restaurant you checked out on Valentine’s Day, the grocery store that carries that ingredient that you can’t get anywhere else in town– these are businesses that can’t afford to pay tens of thousands of dollars in tariffs. They create jobs and grow our communities. They shouldn’t be the ones paying the price for Trump’s destructive economic policies. 

After a year of higher prices, job losses, constant uncertainty and perpetual anxiety, we were all doing a happy dance when we saw the Supreme Court stand up to Trump’s illegal, chaotic, cost-raising tariffs. 

And while the joy was short-lived, we should have hope that we can still fight back against this administration’s damaging policies and win.