To the Editor:
We fought a revolution 250 years ago, in part, because the English king and the distant parliament were imposing taxes on colonial imports and exports and the colonists had no say in the matter. The rallying cry “No taxation without representation” that fueled the revolution also informed the writers of our Constitution when they gave taxing powers to the Congress, not the President.
Good news on February 20th for American businesses and consumers. The Supreme Court, finally, struck down most of Trump’s constitutionally illegal tariffs on countries. As Chief Justice Robert’s said in the majority opinion, Presidents have no authority to impose taxes, and tariffs are a tax on imported finished goods and raw materials paid by the American people.
From US automobile factories to Walmart to shops at the beach selling tourist stuff, Americans all paid tariff taxes into the U.S. Treasury. A friend of mine who makes craft items to sell in shops saw her imported material costs go up 50 percent. She had to pay that 50 percent tax to the US Government before she could get the products she needed. That is the money Trump keeps talking about raising for America – taxes raised from American importers, not foreign countries.
So, it’s good news that the Supreme Court finally acted, but it is a travesty that they allowed Trump’s constitutionally illegal tariffs to continue for so long. A federal appeals court struck down the tariffs in August 2025 on perfectly clear Constitutional grounds. The conservative block on the Supreme Court put a stay on that appellate ruling and allowed the illegal tariffs to continue while the government appealed, instead of putting a stay on the tariffs. So we have had nearly another six months of illegal tariffs being imposed on and collected from the American people.
Not letting the Republican controlled Congress off the hook here. They could have asserted their Constitutional authority to either put a stop to this or to authorize it. They could have prevented, or allowed, a great deal of harm to American businesses and consumers.
So, now what? Over 200 billion dollars have been raised by imposing unconstitutional tariff taxes on Americans. Do they all get their money back? Do consumers who paid more for imported products at the store somehow get money back?
Who knows? What I do know is we do not have a king, and the Supreme Court agrees.
Regards,
Neil Gillies
Baker, WV
