NEWS | NSBA-Supported Senate Bill Seeks Tariff Refunds for Small Business
- NSBA
- Sep 16, 2025
- 2 min read
A new NSBA-endorsed Senate bill is aiming to give small businesses breathing room from the impacts of recent tariff changes.
SEPT. 15, 2025 | This week, a number of Senators introduced the Small Business RELIEF Act, legislation designed to exempt small businesses from the Trump administration’s tariffs and to refund the duties already paid.
The bill aims to provide opportunities small businesses to recover money paid under the “Liberation Day” tariffs, if those tariffs are ultimately overturned in court. It also seeks to prevent future harm by exempting small businesses from similar emergency tariffs that impose sudden, sweeping costs.
The Supreme Court has agreed to review newly enacted tariffs, which will remain in effect in the interim.
Coming off an annual fly-in for the small-business community, NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken shared organizational support for the legislation:
"Small businesses make up over 99% of U.S. companies, employ nearly half of the private sector workforce, and contribute more than 40% of GDP. Unlike larger firms, small businesses often lack the financial cushion and in house resources needed to absorb sudden policy shocks like tariffs."
McCracken further supported the RELIEF Act, siting its recognition of the “unique vulnerability” of small businesses and their critical role in economic growth, further highlighting how, without exemptions, rapidly enacted tariffs can jolt the bottom line for small-business owners.
According to NSBA member survey data, some small-business owners say they already feeling the effects of tariffs, both directly and indirectly. One survey found that about one third of respondents use imported goods in their operations, and among those, most source from China. Concerns are high about increased costs, supply chain disruptions, and general economic instability.
NSBA has called for exemptions for small businesses from reciprocal tariffs and has promoted legislative tools like the THRIVE Act, aimed at allowing small businesses to hedge risk from volatile input costs (e.g. for commodities, energy).
Small businesses often operate on thin margins. The RELIEF Act, supported by NSBA leadership, is being positioned as a supportive measure to subsidize effects from shifts in recent tariff policies. Through this bill, advocates hope to both shield Main Street from future costs and recover losses from past measures deemed unlawful.
