How businesses are affected by tariffs

Emily Ley is the owner of a paper planner and stationery company called Simplified. She filed a federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump and his administration over tariffs imposed against China saying they are illegal and damage small businesses.

Ley gets her products from China because she says there is no infrastructure here in the U.S. for her business. She did start out making planners in the U.S., but they cost $38 to make, and the markup was too great for customers.

Ley said she has paid more than a million dollars in tariffs since 2017. Her lawsuit contends the tariffs will force her to lay off employees and raise prices.

“These tariffs, the way they were put into place didn’t follow the law. I didn’t get to have my voice heard, I didn’t get to contact my representatives and it didn’t have any congressional involvement and we aim to prove that,” Ley said.

The problem with these rounds of tariffs is that they were not decided by Congress, they were decided by the president which is unlawful based on the U.S. Constitution, according to Ley. She is fighting for her voice to be heard for her business in this democracy.

Ley’s business could take a hit because she is looking at 150% tariffs which she said would be “devastating” to not only her business but others similar to Simplified. She said her business does not have the margin to raise prices on her products nor does she think her customers would keep paying for her products.

“If we had the infrastructure, I would have continued making them here. I actually made our first planners here in the United States back in 2012. They cost me $38 a unit to make and when you add in the overhead of running a business, we sold them for $50 and we made no profit that year. After that, I had to look outside of the United States,” Ley said.

She said her planners are currently made in China at a price they can afford as well as a fair selling price to consumers.

Now that Ley is fighting for her business through this lawsuit, she said she has seen a lot of support and positive feedback that she is grateful for.