At What’s Poppin’ Texas popcorn and candy store in Waxahachie, owner Sue Schulz has dealt with the rising tariffs.
“A 25-pound box of white chocolate that we use to make a lot of our candies went up $40 a case,” owner Sue Schulz said.
That has caused her to raise her prices.
“Probably could have gone up even more, but I don’t want to do that to my customers,” Schulz said.
The issue goes before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The court will hear oral arguments on whether President Trump exceeded his authority to impose the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“But I have never seen the IEEPA used for tariff leverage before, and in my mind, I, if I’m honest, I do not believe that it follows the letter of the law,” founder and managing partner of Schulz Trade Law, Michelle Schulz said.
Michelle Schulz was not involved in the Supreme Court case, but says the court ruling against Trump could bring money back to businesses.
“That could start a whole round of refund requests,” Michelle Schulz said. “Customs would then owe refunds to our clients, many of whom have lost millions of dollars in revenue.”
However, the tariffs being ruled legal could cause more headaches.
“If it stands, you will see more importers reviewing specifics of their transactions,” Michelle Schulz said. “Many importers that we represent have already moved their sourcing. They’ve already moved locations, and that’s not very helpful.”
She added that’s because the tariffs have been so widespread.
As for What’s Poppin’ Texas, the owner hoped the courts would rule against the tariffs.
“I’m really hoping that they can pull back some of these,” Sue Schulz said. “They’re hurting the little guy. They’re hurting the small businesses.”
But even still, she’s not sure things will be as sweet as they were before.
“That’s kind of a fear, because, you know, once they raise the price, is the manufacturer really going to pull back and say, oops, but at least they won’t go up anymore,” Sue Schulz said. “That’s my hope.”
