MADISON, Wis. — New reporting from the Wisconsin State Journal reveals Wisconsin companies and families paid approximately $3.5 billion in tariffs between March and December 2025 as a result of GOP candidate for governor, Tom Tiffany, and Donald Trump’s tariff taxes. Now, with at least 10 Wisconsin businesses suing to recoup taxes paid to the government after the Supreme Court declared Trump’s tariffs illegal, business leaders are sounding the alarm that the chaos of the Tiffany-Trump economy is bad for business.
Wisconsin State Journal: Here’s how much Wisconsin businesses paid in tariffs last year
By: Kimberly Wethal
Wisconsin companies and their consumers paid approximately $3.5 billion in tariffs between March and December 2025, according to a report from a national coalition of small businesses.
The report also shows that 92% of the $426 million in tariffs Wisconsin businesses paid in December were levied by presidential action and were not approved by Congress.
Since President Donald Trump began levying tariffs, also referred to as import taxes, during his first term, Wisconsin importers have paid $8.9 billion in tariffs — meaning more than a third of the duties paid since 2018 were paid last year alone.
The report, compiled by We Pay the Tariffs, a small-business advocacy organization opposed to Trump’s tariff strategy, shows an explosion of import taxes paid by Wisconsin businesses starting in February 2025. They jumped even higher after April 2, 2025 — which Trump dubbed “Liberation Day” — when he imposed tariffs on most U.S. trading partners.
The data cited in the report comes from the Trade Partnership Worldwide, which pulls national import data from the U.S. Census Bureau, state import data and tariff schedules from the U.S. Trade Commission.
In implementing many of the tariffs, Trump relied on an economic emergency power law from the 1970s, claiming it gave him wide discretion to set import duties without Congress’ approval. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that law did not give the president the power to impose tariffs.
In a further blow, a federal judge ruled this week that the Trump administration needs to refund $130 billion in tariffs after thousands of companies sued seeking to recoup their payments to the government.
At least 10 Wisconsin companies, including Kohl’s, Milwaukee Tool, Ashley Furniture and Duluth Trading Company, have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration to recoup funds.
Several other companies, including six from Dane County, have signed on to a letter from We Pay the Tariffs to lawmakers saying they don’t have the resources to go to court, nor can they wait years for a refund.
“We paid the tariffs. We are owed our money back, without having to fight for it, and without having to wait,” the letter states.
Kurt Bauer, president of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business lobbying organization, said uncertainty is one of the greatest threats to business.
“Businesses will be left to wonder how this decision will impact their customers and vendors,” Bauer said in a statement after the high court’s ruling on Feb. 20. “Sadly, there are more questions than answers at this point.”
A Marquette Law School poll from February showed that 53% of Wisconsin registered voters, including 65% of independents and 94% of Democrats, believe Trump’s economic policies are driving inflation. About 17% of Republican respondents agreed.
