Tariffs have varying impact on local businesses

By Colin Brown, March 17th, 2026

Local businesses in Portland are speaking out about increased costs due to the tariffs and their effects on the community. But with the Supreme Court's decision finding the tariffs unconstitutional, there might be a change in course.   

In April of 2025, President Donald J. Trump imposed a 10% flat tariff on all countries shipping to and from the U.S. He called the tariffs “Liberation Day,” and they ranged from 10% to 50% depending on the items being shipped. This affects both consumers,corporations, and businesses. By imposing these tariffs, it forces local businesses to cut corners in their products and raise their prices to stay in business. 

“Everything, not even just international stuff, all of the prices have gone up. So there are certain products that we can't even get the same quality of that we usually would because the prices are so high,” said Corrin, a worker at Quality Shop.“And in order to keep our customers happy, we can only go up so much.” Corrin also stated that the tariffs increased their products by ten percent. “People don't spend as much money because of it. So you've seen less traffic coming in.”

Other businesses haven’t seen a big effect due to the tariffs. One example is Micucci's Grocery, Rick Micucci the owner of Micucci Grocery stated “We've seen this before. If you're talking about the most recent tariffs, they seem to be having an effect that's minimal, let's say. We've seen some price increases… but not significant. They're there, they're gone, they're back.” Micucci also stated, “I think it's affected different items in a different ways, but I can't say that I've seen increases any more than, 10%” 

According to Congress.Gov, The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorize the sweeping global tariffs imposed by the Administration, asserting Congress's constitutional authority over trade. 

The Supreme Court decided that under law the president does not have the authority to impose tariffs. 

While the effects of the supreme court ruling are still taking place, the local businesses are still focusing on keeping the doors open. 

“It's nice to be working for a place that's been locally owned for you know half a century, still standing when we see a lot of businesses around here and in the city closing down, they can't keep up with how much things cost these days,” said Ryan, a worker for Quality Shop. 

"[The community] is close-knit, and there are a lot of people that support each other within the community here,” said Corrin.  

In Portland, the price of tariffs may rise—but so does the importance of community.