This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Marc Bowker, owner of Alter Ego Comics, a comic book shop in Lima, Ohio, after the Supreme Court overturned some of President Donald Trump's tariffs. This story has been edited for length a clarity.
My first reaction to the Supreme Court decision was, "This is awesome and long overdue." The second was, "Okay, what's next?"
Then I saw the president say there would now be a new 10% global tariff and that the Supreme Court justices who ruled against him are unpatriotic and unloyal. So it feels like this is going to drag on forever and ever until he gets his way. It's like death by a thousand paper cuts.
I think there are more questions remaining than answers. I appreciate the Supreme Court siding with Americans and American businesses, but it feels like it's going to be a tug-of-war that may go on throughout this entire administration.
This administration has created a level of uncertainty in the small business landscape that I haven't seen in 23 years of owning my store.
In addition to being a small-business owner in America, I'm a consumer in America, so I'm paying more for everything that my family consumes, from food to physical products. It's a one-two punch for us.
I've already paid thousands, and there's still uncertainty
I've kept a spreadsheet of every shipment that had a tariff charge, and as of today, we've paid over $12,000 since Trump started all of this.
We've had to pass on a percentage of that to our customers, and as a result, we've seen a slowdown in orders. Some are taking a wait-and-see mentality, or they just don't want to pay the extra fee.
Comics themselves — a lot of which are printed in Canada — have not been impacted by tariffs. But for me and for other comic book stores, action figures, board games, and comic book supplies, like storage items, are being impacted. Action figures account for about 65% of my shop's revenue, and they are made in China.
A lot of these orders are made far in advance, too. We were being charged tariffs on items ordered in 2023 and 2024. There's stuff I need to order next week that ships in June of 2027. Is the tariff going to be 6%? Is it going to be zero? Is it going to be 100%? I have no idea.
It's unclear if small businesses will get refunds or what will happen next
As for the tariff costs small businesses have already paid, are we getting that back? Probably not. Are the corporations that paid the bulk of the tariffs going to be reimbursed? Where does that come from? I feel like this is just going to cause more paperwork, more red tape, more headaches. I don't know what the next step is.
If I could wave a magic wand, yes, there would be some reimbursement of the fees that all American businesses have had to pay. If I had to settle for something, it would be that, effective today, there are no more of these Trump tariffs.
It's hard to be excited about the Supreme Court ruling when, within hours, the White House says it's going to push back with more tariffs.
The administration is throwing so much at us every day that we can't make any progress. It's hard to see what the future will look like.
I would hate to see this stretch on the next three years of the administration. It's going to take all this extra time that could be spent running our businesses and serving our customers, just trying to stop the government from getting its hands in our pockets.
It really feels like our elected officials are not listening to us. Historically, the Republican Party has been promoted as the party of business in the United States. If they truly were, they would be listening to constituents who are saying these tariffs are hurting our businesses.
