RM Markey: Small businesses are fed up with Trump’s illegal actions
(Washington, October 29) – Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today delivered remarks on the Senate floor to highlight the devastating impact Trump’s economic policies are having on American small businesses. His remarks come before a vote on a resolution to block Trump’s tariffs on articles imported from Canada, and a week prior to the beginning of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in the case challenging Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs. Lower court decisions previously affirmed that Trump’s use of IEEPA to impose tariffs was illegal.
Ranking Member Markey said, “Small business owners are struggling in President Trump’s economy—from energy to health care to food, costs are up, while manufacturing jobs are down. At the heart of it are President Trump’s crushing tariffs. These tariffs are taxes for American small businesses. President Trump is taxing food, clothing, toys, and even tea—and the last time there was a tax on tea, there was a revolution.”
Ranking Member Markey continued, “President Trump says it is ‘enemies of the country’ suing him over tariffs. It is actually Main Street small business owners. For small businesses, this isn’t about politics. It is about survival. Trump’s tariffs have cost small businesses more than $30 billion already this year, while big businesses and CEOs are meeting with the President and receiving generous exemptions.”
Ranking Member Markey concluded, “Small businesses have no Mar-a-Lago memberships, no golden gifts for President Trump, and no margin for error. I will not back down. I will continue to stand up for small businesses across the country from red states to blue states who are bearing the burden of these tariffs.”
Ranking Member Markey is fighting to deliver real relief for America’s small businesses who are struggling because of Trump’s reckless economic policies. Last month, Ranking Member Markey held a press conference to highlight the voices of small business owners impacted by Trump’s devastating tariffs, and to release data on the cost of the tariffs for small businesses. Previously, Ranking Member Markey introduced the Small Business RELIEF Act, which exempts small businesses from the “Liberation Day” tariffs and requires the President to provide refunds to small businesses who have paid them.
In August, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) Stephen Miran, calling on their respective agencies to establish and publicize procedures for refunding tariffs to American businesses. Earlier that month, Ranking Member Markey returned to the Senate floor in an effort to pass the Small Business Liberation Act, legislation that would exempt small businesses from the broad, reckless global tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Ranking Member Markey first attempted to pass the Small Business Liberation Act in May. Republicans blocked his legislation on the Senate floor on both occasions.
