A spice importer expecting $13,888 in new duties on five incoming shipments, and a watch retailer facing $8,280 on three, are now the first businesses to take the Trump administration to court over its latest tariff regime. Burlap & Barrel, a New York-based single-origin spice company, and Collective Horology, a Ventura, California watch retailer, filed the complaint on July 24 in the U.S. Court of International Trade.
The tariffs they are fighting went live that same day. The Trump administration imposed duties of 10% or 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, covering what the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says is 99.4% of American imports. The stated justification is that these economies have failed to ban or enforce prohibitions on goods produced with forced labor. The duties replace a temporary 10% global tariff that expired after hitting its 150-day statutory ceiling.
Third swing, same bat
This is the administration’s third attempt at broad import taxes after courts struck down the first two. The Supreme Court invalidated the original “reciprocal” tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in February. A Section 122 stopgap followed but had a built-in expiration. Now the White House is using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law historically used against specific trade practices in individual countries.
The plaintiffs, represented by the Liberty Justice Center, the same nonprofit that won the Supreme Court case, argue the government is stretching Section 301 far beyond its intended scope. Their attorney, Jeffrey Schwab, said the law does not authorize the government “to tax substantially all imports from substantially all countries at preestablished rates.”
What small importers face right now
Duties are payable at the time goods enter the country. That means any small business with shipments arriving from an affected economy is already on the hook for 10% to 12.5% more on top of existing rates. Countries assigned the 10% tier include Canada, Mexico, India, and the U.K. The 12.5% rate applies to roughly 38 other economies, including China, Australia, and Brazil. Some products, such as oil, gas, and fertilizer, are exempt, and goods qualifying under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement are also spared.
For the two plaintiffs, buying American is not an option. Burlap & Barrel sources single-origin spices from smallholder farmers overseas. Collective Horology sells handmade watches from Swiss and European artisans. Neither product has a domestic substitute.
Small businesses importing from any of the 60 affected economies should review their shipments against the tariff annexes and talk with a customs broker about product-specific exclusions. Goods in transit get a brief grace period through July 28.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare the tariffs unlawful, block enforcement, and preserve importers’ right to refunds. Legal experts are split on the outcome. Section 301 has a stronger track record in court than the emergency-powers law already struck down, but the breadth of this action is unprecedented. Oregon’s attorney general has signaled the state may file a separate challenge. Whether this round of tariffs survives will likely shape trade policy for the rest of the year.
