Montana business leaders react as Supreme Court nixes many Trump tariffs

As the U.S. Supreme Court declared many of President Donald Trump’s import tariffs unconstitutional Friday, business leaders reached by Montana Free Press were split on whether the ruling will make life easier for Montana businesses that have struggled to navigate the president’s often-volatile trade policies.

The state’s all-Republican federal delegation did not provide answers to a question from MTFP Friday about whether they would support congressional action to restore the tariffs. 

Brigitta Miranda-Freer, the director of the University of Montana-affiliated Montana World Trade Center, said in an interview that the ruling invalidates some of the president’s most sweeping “economy-wide” tariffs, likely pushing the administration’s trade policy toward narrower-scope tariffs targeted to national security concerns or unfair trade practices.

“I think that’s good news for businesses that are trying to navigate this on a daily basis,” Miranda-Freer said.

Montana Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd O’Hair, in contrast, said in an interview that he’s worried about what might come next, given the likelihood of litigation over tariff refunds and an uncertain reaction from the White House.

“The president is committed to some sort of a tariff policy. It’s unclear what he pivots to next,” O’Hair said. “There’s just going to continue to be uncertainty.”

The president said Friday that he will be imposing a 10% “global tariff” using an alternative approach.

Over the past year, O’Hair said, Montana businesses have had to contend with wild swings as the president has advanced a “spectacular” variety of tariff proposals. 

“We don’t know what the rules of the game are going to be — or if they’re going to change in six months, or tomorrow afternoon,” O’Hair said.

For example, Miranda-Freer said many Montana businesses have taken a productivity hit as they’ve had to assign staff to respond to successive shifts in tariff policy, rather than focusing on other aspects of their operations. 

Additionally, she said, consumer-facing businesses have had to contend with the possibility that turmoil in the administration’s trade policy turns off their customers.

“Customers overseas vote with their wallets, and they can make that decision on a case-by-case basis to not purchase American products based on the things we’re all seeing in the news cycle,” she said.

She also said that tariff uncertainty has made it hard for Montana’s industrial manufacturing companies to provide customers with accurate price quotes, given that they can’t confidently predict how much raw materials or imported components will cost them. She said that puts American companies at risk of developing a reputation as unreliable.

Walter Schweitzer, president of the Montana Farmers Union, echoed that concern in a separate interview with MTFP, saying he worries that fallout from the Trump administration’s trade wars has damaged business relationships with overseas customers that Montana agriculture boosters have spent decades developing.

“This is a win for Montana family farms and ranches and American families, but we’ve got a long ways to go,” he said of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Paddy Fleming, director of the Montana State University-affiliated Montana Manufacturing Extension Center, also said that uncertainty over the tariffs has prevented some businesses from investing to take advantage of them. Even if tariffs on imported wood products mean more immediate business for a Montana sawmill, he said, spending millions on an upgraded production line to serve that extra demand is a risky proposition if the tariffs are lifted before the investment pays off. 

“I think people have been holding off on investing in things based on tariffs, waiting to see how long they’ll be in place,” Fleming said.

The 6-3 Supreme Court decision, which addresses tariffs the president imposed via executive orders last year, faulted the Trump administration’s legal rationale for implementing them. Instead of obtaining congressional authorization for the tariffs, as is generally required by the U.S. Constitution unless otherwise stated by law, the administration claimed the authority under an emergency-powers law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The court declared that approach unconstitutional.

“When Congress has delegated its tariff powers, it has done so in explicit terms and subject to strict limits,” the court wrote.

The decision doesn’t directly affect tariffs that were implemented under other legal justifications. For example, tariffs on steel and aluminum have been imposed under a separate law that lets the president use tariffs to address national security concerns.

None of the U.S. senators and representatives in Montana’s congressional delegation provided answers Friday to emailed questions from MTFP about how they believe the ruling will affect Montana businesses, and whether they would support congressional action to restore the president’s tariffs.

Spokespersons for U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy provided statements that addressed the ruling broadly, but didn’t directly answer either question.

“Senator Daines commends President Trump for working to address trade imbalances for Montana farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers and will continue to work closely with President Trump and USTR Greer to level the playing field,” a Daines spokesperson wrote, referring to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“Senator Sheehy is reviewing the decision issued by the Supreme Court and will continue fighting alongside the Trump administration to lower prices, level the playing field for American producers, and unleash investment and jobs across the country,” a Sheehy spokesperson wrote.

A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke indicated the congressman was traveling Friday and wouldn’t be able to respond to MTFP’s inquiry. The office of Rep. Troy Downing didn’t reply in time for publication.

Schweitzer also said that Friday’s ruling addresses some of the tariff concerns articulated by a Montana-specific tariff lawsuit that was filed by Blackfeet tribal members last year. The farmer’s union has sought to join that lawsuit.

In addition to faulting the emergency-powers authorization, that case alleged that the Trump tariffs violated the 1794 Jay Treaty, which recognized the rights of Native Americans to freely trade and travel across the U.S.-Canada border. Schweitzer said Friday he expects the Jay Treaty portion of the case to proceed in federal court.