Trump says U.S. won't survive without tariffs, businesses say they won't survive with them

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(The Center Square) − People on both sides of a legal challenge to President Donald Trump's tariff authority warn that survival is on the line in the high-profile case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Individual businesses and business groups have warned that the tariffs could hurt U.S. businesses and consumers. At least one of the businesses that initially sued the administration over the tariffs said it could only survive for a few months before closing up shop. That business owner said a Chinese company would likely fill the gap making STEM kits for kids when his inventory runs out. 

Back in June, the small businesses, represented by the Liberty Justice Center, said their livelihood was on the line. The businesses included VOS Selections, a New York-based wine and spirit importer.

"An eventual refund is of little comfort to the VOS Plaintiffs, who face imminent irreparable harm, including existential threats of bankruptcy and permanent damage to their business, whether by reputational damage, loss of goodwill, or harm to relationships with suppliers and customers," Liberty Justice Center attorneys wrote. "What good is a refund of the tariffs paid to a business that is bankrupt and no longer exists?"

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation, said in a friend-of-the-court brief in the case that businesses of all sizes were at risk.

"The economic and political consequences of ratifying the President's broad interpretation of IEEPA are profound and far-reaching, especially for American businesses," the attorneys wrote. "If the President's IEEPA tariffs remain in force, American businesses – large and small – will be irreparably harmed."

Trump has said the U.S. won't survive without the tariffs. He said the U.S. would be defenseless without them and has predicted dire scenarios for the U.S. economy should the Supreme Court rule against him.

Calling it "one of the most important cases in the history of our country," Trump said on Wednesday that he might attend the U.S. Supreme Court arguments challenging his tariff authority in person, an unprecedented move for a sitting president.

"If we don't win that case, we will be a weakened, troubled financial mess for many, many years to come," Trump said. "I don't even know if it is survivable ... That's why I think I'm going to the Supreme Court to watch it. I've not done that. And I've had some pretty big cases."

The Supreme Court's public information office didn't respond to questions about the president possibly attending oral arguments in the case, which is set for Nov. 5. The Center Square submitted questions to the office on Thursday amid an ongoing partial government shutdown.

In the past, presidents have not attended legal hearings in front of the high court.