Tariffs

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last Friday, the Supreme Court ruled to strike down most--70 percent--of Trump's tariff taxes.

Tariffs can be useful when used strategically, but President Trump exceeded these authorities, as clearly defined by Congress, and the Supreme Court, by a vote of 6 to 3, told him as much. He defied basic economic sense. Just ask any American business or consumer who suffered under this chaotic policy.

Last year, the average American family paid more than $1,700 in tariff costs. A tariff tax, as described by the President, sounds like a problem for the exporter to the United States. It is not. It is paid by the importer. That turns out to be the American consumer.

So, at a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, when the cost of living is going up, the products that they are buying--many of them--are subject to Trump's tariff tax, and they have to pay it, how much does that mean for each American family? It means $1,700 a year.

A recent report from the New York Fed found that 90 percent of the economic burden of Trump's tariff taxes fell on Americans--not on foreigners but on Americans.

How did the Trump administration respond to it? They said the researchers needed to be ``disciplined.''

The chaos unleashed by this administration's attacks on American businesses and consumers also resulted in a massive decline in manufacturing jobs last year--jobs the President promised he would be creating and would be booming. In fact, U.S. factories employ 72,000 fewer people than they did in April of 2025, with more declines every single month.

The President has also broken his promise many times over to the farmers in Illinois. His tariffs have made farming in Illinois unprofitable--not just by making the fertilizer, seeds, machinery, and equipment more expensive but also by wrecking export markets like China for years to come.

I have met with these farmers throughout my congressional career. They are proud, hard-working people. They are the backbone of so many communities across our State.

I meet with them, and they say: Senator, all we want the Federal Government to do is get the heck out of the way. We grow the best crops in the world. We can compete with any country on Earth. Just don't make our job more difficult by government action.

The tariffs did make it more difficult for these farmers, and they told me as much.

Last week's decision was a victory for America and a defeat for this President. It was a victory for the rule of law. But the damage has been done to small businesses and balance sheets across this country.

But instead of reconsidering his position after a clear 6-to-3 loss in the Supreme Court, President Trump is whipsawing between new tariffs--new taxes--resulting in the European Union halting a trade deal with us as they consider their next steps.

Chaos, turmoil--the President thrives on it, but American families and the economy do not. It is up to Congress to reject those desperate gambles by the President. Congress must also act to ensure that small businesses across the country get their money back as soon as possible.

And how about the families who paid for these products that have been taxed by the Trump tariff tax? They deserve relief too. If we are concerned about the cost of living as it hits American families, they need to have some relief, too, and the President, after losing in the Supreme Court, should pay this money back.

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