Small Businesses Push Back as New Tariff Wave Hits Global Supply Chains

Small Businesses Push Back as New Tariff Wave Hits Global Supply Chains

Trade attorney Michelle Schulz details how stacking tariffs are disproportionately impacting importers on This Morning with Gordon Deal.

Summary

International trade attorney Michelle Schulz joined This Morning with Gordon Deal to explain how small businesses are mounting legal challenges against broad, stacking tariffs that disproportionately impact their operations. To protect their bottom lines, Schulz recommends that importers proactively file administrative protests with Customs and Border Protection to preserve their legal rights and secure potential duty refunds before entries liquidate.

As small businesses navigate an increasingly complex international trade landscape, a growing coalition of importers is taking legal action to challenge the latest round of federal import taxes.

Appearing on This Morning with Gordon Deal, international trade attorney Michelle Schulz, founder and managing partner of Schulz Trade Law in Dallas, outlined how expanding tariff measures are straining commercial operations across the country. Importers are facing overlapping duty burdens, with rates rising anywhere from 10% to 12.5% across multiple categories. Schulz explained that administrative frameworks originally structured for targeted trade policy are now being applied broadly, creating widespread confusion and financial hardship.

As Schulz noted,

“Small businesses are really still reeling from Section 122, Section 232, Section 301, and they’re very confused overall about what tariffs they owe, how much they owe, and what they can still recoup and refund.”

A primary driver of recent legal challenges centers on the administration’s use of broad trade policy mechanisms under the banner of targeted remedies. For instance, recent Section 301 forced labor designations have applied sweeping 12% tariffs across approximately 60 countries, placing a blanket tax burden on all incoming shipments regardless of individual supply chain integrity. According to Schulz, small importers bear a disproportionate burden under these broad enforcement actions compared to larger corporations with deep compliance budgets.

“Small businesses are suing to block the latest import taxes because… they’re challenging Trump’s authority, but they’re saying that Trump is using mechanisms intended for targeted tariffs to impose broad tariffs,” Schulz stated. “Every importer is subjected to that tariff. So small businesses are saying, ‘Hey, wait, you’re just using that tariff to apply a broad tariff to everyone,’ and that impacts small businesses disproportionately.”

Despite these daunting market conditions, small businesses have secured significant financial victories through proactive legal and administrative remedies. Schulz reported that her firm alone has already recovered over $5 million in IEEPA tariff refunds for clients of all sizes since May, demonstrating that legal recourse remains viable. To safeguard bottom lines against the newest wave of tariffs, importers are encouraged to explore administrative options such as Customs and Border Protection protests, which offer a faster, lower-cost method to preserve refund rights before entry liquidations occur.

“In regard to the most recent tariffs, they can file a lawsuit, they can file a protest,” Schulz advised. “Protests are typically the way to go as far as administrative remedies. They’re less expensive than filing a lawsuit… simpler, faster, and they will preserve your right to contest the amount on your entry.”